


Howling in the Moonlight (season 1)

by NekoAliceYamiYaoi



Series: Howling in the Moonlight [1]
Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, I'll tag as I write, M/M, Magic-Users, Mythology References, Slow Build Relationships, Supernatural Elements, Werewolf!Thomas, bad grammar sorry, especially the last two, i just tagged them so you know where this is going, it will be separated as seasons, minho and teresa aren't going to be together in this season, the same with gally and aris, witch!aris, witch!newt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-08-17 02:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 102,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8127667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoAliceYamiYaoi/pseuds/NekoAliceYamiYaoi
Summary: Thomas is the typical high school student; he attends to school even if he hates waking up early, loves running, he behaves at his home and other places, and he is good-natured and kind-hearted.
But Thomas' life drastically changes when he turns sixteen and his guardians (his godparents) tell him that he's actually a werewolf. He must henceforth learn to balance his problematic new identity with his day-to-day teenage life.Luckily he's not alone: Minho, his loyal human best friend; Newt, the new kid with magical powers and his love interest; Teresa, the only girl of the team and also human; and Aris and Gally, two mysterious guys that seem to know all about the supernatural world.
Follow Thomas and his friends as he tries to maintain a normal life while dealing with supernatural dangers that plague the town.





	1. Pilot

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! It's me again and with another Newtmas fic! And this time one with magic and supernatural elements! FINALLY! I was finally able to start posting this fic! God, I'm so proud of myself :3  
> Anyway, I really, really, really hope you like it and enjoy it! So, without anything else to say, I'll let you read and (hopefully) enjoy~

Soft rays of moonlight went through the semi-open curtains of a window on a room of a big house; illuminating a 16 year-old boy's figure laying on his bed over his bedroom. He had short brown locks of hair stuck to his forehead and moles scattering his skin, right on the side of his face. He was soundly sleeping, his face turned towards the window.

Suddenly, the boy started moving in his sleep, as if he were running in his dream. Behind his eyelids and on his mind, several images went through his mind, some blurry, some others too vivid for a dream. He could see the streets of the town he lived in; the school, some houses, the hospital. Then he saw the woods. But it was as if he was there, standing over the withered leafs. Then he saw the moon; big and clear over the sky just as the one that night. A blurry face with soft, blond hair. Blood dripping from someone's hand. A pitching scream and glass breaking.

The brunet boy started thrashing over his bed, eyes still shut but a frown adorned his face. His hands were gripping the blankets too tight; his knuckles were turning white. His dream continued: A black cat with alluring green eyes sitting over a window, staring right at him. Stunning blue eyes, like drops of icy rain. Someone running through the woods wearing a red hood. Then he was running. Running faster than he ever did in his whole life. His heart pumped so hard that he could hear it over his ears. While running he returned to the woods, looking around the big trees and hearing everything. He could feel adrenaline pumping through his veins as he ran. He looked up and saw the moon.

Outside his room there's the sound of footsteps on stairs and a whispering voice,

"Do you think it's already time?" a female voice asked.

"It should be. His sixteenth birthday started five minutes ago." answered a male voice. The bedroom door opens and two persons -a man and a woman- enter. The man had shaggy hair and a beard; the woman had long brown hair and hazel eyes. They stare at the boy over his bed, smiling softly at him.

"Should we tell his father? Oh! Let's wake him up and tell him--"

The man shakes his head, "No. Let him sleep. He'll have enough time for this in the morning. We'd better go before he wakes up."

They start to leave but the woman finds it hard to draw her eyes away from the sleeping boy.

She smiles softly, "Sleep well, my boy. A whole new world will start once you wake up." she turns around and closes the door.

 

* * *

 

Brown almost-amber eyes shot open. Thomas blinked a few times to get used to the morning light on his bedroom before he sat. He sat on the edge of his mattress and stretched his arms and legs, shaking off the numbness of his limbs. Once he finished, he rested his elbows over his knees and leaned forward, his arms and head hanging, looking at the floor for a couple of seconds. He brought a hand to his neck and scratched it; holding his head up, his eyes fell at the clock on his nightstand. 6:30 a.m. He still had time. Thomas stood up from his bed and was in his way to the bathroom when something caught his eye.

He turned again to his bed and saw the blankets. They had strange marks, like someone had grabbed a pair of scissors and tear them open. He frowned. They weren't like that last night when he went to sleep. Leaning forward, he slowly touched the ripped parts, his fingers falling in place with them. Just like if someone had done this... with their fingernails?

Thomas shook his head and that thought off. He stood straight again and went to his bathroom, closing the door behind.

After taking a quick shower and dressing, Thomas started to pack his things from his desk to his backpack. While putting his books in, he noticed something in the air. Something smelled like honey. Was Mary making pancakes for breakfast? No, it didn't came from downstairs; it came from his room.

He looked up, turning around while sniffing the air. His eyes scanned his room, passing by his desk, his bed, and finally at the window. A black cat was on the window ledge. Its green piercing eyes staring right at Thomas.

"Hey. Kitty, kitty, kitty."

The cat blinked once and then turned around, jumping down the window. Thomas shrugged and continued with what he was doing. After he was done, he grabbed his bag and jacket and went downstairs.

The shaggy haired man from last night was sitting on the kitchen table, reading the newspaper while drinking coffee. The woman was over the kitchen, her hair hold in a high pony tail while she cooked breakfast. They were Vince and Mary; his legal guardians and kind of the domestic workers. Well, actually, they were more than that. Since he has memory, these two were always by his side, taking care of him while his dad worked. Vince worked at the sheriff's department as a deputy sheriff, while Mary worked at the hospital as a nurse. Currently his dad was out of the country because of his work. He was some kind of businessman, and traveled a lot. And what about his mom? He didn't had the pleasure to meet her; she died when he was still a baby. As far back as his memories go he could never remember her, so he couldn't  miss her- but he always felt that something was missing. His father didn't like to talk about it; it was still painful for him. Hell, he didn't even had a photo of her.

Thomas approached the table and let his backpack hit the floor.

Mary looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Good morning!" she exited the kitchen with a plate of scrambled eggs and put it over the table, in front of Thomas, "Happy birthday, Thomas!"

"And many more to come." Vince said, raising his mug at him.

"Thanks, guys." he started eating. Vince and Mary stared at him, sometimes glancing at each other and sharing a small smile. Thomas felt being stared at and looked up at the two adults, "What? Do I have egg on my face?"

Mary was the first to speak, "We wanted to tell you that... since today is your 16th birthday, you will be given something special."

Thomas smiled, "A car?"

The woman smiled, "No."

"A motorcycle?"

Mary smiled again and shook her head, "No. It's nothing like that."

"But I _will_ get something?"

"Yes."

"Alright." Thomas wiped his mouth, "What is it?"

Vince and Mary looked at each other and then at the brunet. Mary sat beside Vince and started speaking.

"Do you know anything about lycanthropy?"

Thomas didn't knew what that had to do with his present but he thought _'okay...',_ "Um, just what I've seen in movies or read in fiction books."

Vince exhaled, "Well, that's vague. They're not completely accurate." he took another sip from his mug as the woman rolled her eyes.

She turned to Thomas again, smiling, "The term lycanthrope is derived from the Greek myth of 'Lycaon', who was the King of Arcadia."

Thomas nodded, "Okay."

"For his cruel actions he was transformed into a wolf by Greek god Zeus."

Thomas nodded again, this time more confused, "Okay?"

The other two stared at him, the woman trying to find the words to say it but couldn't. She opened her mouth but nothing came out; instead she looked around the room. Vince looked at her and at Thomas and sighed,

"Oh, for fuck's sake! You're a werewolf."

Thomas froze. He just stared at the adults in front of him. _What?_ Mary hit Vince on the back of his head, the other complaining about it. After a couple of minutes, Thomas managed to find his voice,

"What?"

"I was trying to tell him calmly."

"There's no way to say _'you're a werewolf'_ to someone calmly, Mary."

She sent him a glare, "Anyway... Here's a video if you have any doubt. But of course you can come to us and ask whatever you want."

"She meant whatever we can answer."

Thomas stares at the video on Mary's hand, being held at him. He then stares at the two of them, eyes wide and mouth ajar. He chuckles,

"Nice one, guys. You really did make me forget about school." he stood up and pick up his bag, "I'll see you for dinner, okay?" and with that he walked towards the door and exited his house, leaving two worried adults alone.

 

* * *

 

Thomas entered the school building, walking through the hallways and towards his locker. He approached his locker and took his books out. As he walked towards his classroom, his mind started wandering over the events that took place in the morning just a few minutes ago.

 _'That was so weird. Why were they talking about that? Normally a guy my age in their birthday would have a talk about being a grown up and stuff like that, not something about werewolves.'_ he shook his head, _'Maybe they should go out more often.'_

_"INCOMING!"_

He heard someone yell and knew exactly who was it. He felt a somehow heavy body on his back, legs at each side of his body and arms over his shoulders. He quickly grabbed the legs so the person who had jumped on his back wouldn't fall. He noticed the faint scent of freshly mown grass and a rainy day. _'That's so weird.'_ he thought as he turned his head to look at an Asian male with black hair; said person was Thomas' best friend, Minho.

"Happy birthday!"

"Thanks, Min." he drops the guy on his feet and they continue walking through the halls.

Minho putted his hands over his shoulders, "You're finally sixteen! I'm so proud of you!"

"Yeah, I thought I would never reach sixteen but, here I am." Thomas said sarcastically. The Asian male shoved him playfully and they laughed as they entered their classroom, walking towards their seats. They would always sit beside the other, or behind the other.

Minho took his book out, placing it over his desk, and turned to Thomas, "So? What did your guardian dogs give you as present?"

Thomas thought about what Vince and Mary said and he shook it off. He took out his book, "Nothing."

_"Nothing?!"_

"Well, I mean, I'm sure they will give me something when I come back, since you know, it was pretty early."

Minho shrugged, "I guess you're right."

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Did you got me a present?"

Minho puts a hand over his mouth and feigns surprise, "Oh, damn it!" the brunet rolls his eyes, turning to look at the front when the other slaps his shoulder, " _Hey!_ You really think I'm that swallow to forget giving you a present?" Thomas stares at him for a couple of seconds, and the Asian knows what he means with that look. "It was just _one_ time, and I told you I was sorry." he grabs his backpack and start looking for something inside, "And I was seven years-old."

"You were ten."

"Seven and a half. Shut up," he takes something out from his backpack, "Here," and gives it to Thomas. Thomas looks at the metallic object in his hand; a dog tag with a ball chain and an inscription: _'To Thine Own Self Be True'_.

"Yeah, it's kind of lame, I know. But I had a weird dream last week and-

"I like them." cuts him Thomas as he puts it on; he then smiles and looks at the other male, "Thanks, Min."

Minho grinned, "What are best friends for?"

The bell rang and the teacher entered the classroom, holding a bunch of papers under his armpit. He put them over his desk, looking at the class.

"Okay, class. Books away, there's gonna be a surprise test."

Several groans were heard, some complaining about it, others were terrified about it. Thomas grinned and glanced at Minho, who grinned back.

 

* * *

 

The bell rang, and everyone exited their classrooms. Minho and Thomas leaved the classroom and walked through the hall, satisfaction showing in their faces.

"Thanks, dude. You saved my ass."

Minho shrugged, "It was nothing."

"I tell you, it's the third time this semester. I still don't know how you do it. How you know what's gonna happen, about classes, exams, everything!"

"Some people are good at some things, and others just have luck."

" _Luck_? Just _luck_?" he shoves at the Asian, "I could strangle you!" Minho shoves him back chuckling and then jogs towards his next class. Thomas needed to go to his locker for a book, so he continued his way.

As he walked towards his locker he heard a screeching sound and turned around. He couldn't see anything out of the normal. Some guys talking with two girls, a teacher standing by the trash can, a girl over her locker. But they were all acting like they hadn't heard that terrible sound. He continued walking, his mind wandering. Was it just him? Before he could identify what was it, he collided with someone, making that person's books fall to the ground.

Thomas turned to look at a girl with black hair, pale skin and stunning blue eyes. He has seen her sometimes at the library and at some of his classes, but he really doesn't know her name. "Sorry." he said as he kneeled to help her with her books.

"It's okay. I wasn't hearing," she takes out her earphones hiding in her hair, showing them to the brunet.

He stands up, books on his hand, "I don't have that as an excuse." he jokes.

The girl shows him a small smile while taking her books, "Thanks."

"I'm Thomas."

"Teresa."

"Sorry again." he motions the books.

The girl shakes her head, "It's fine." and then quickly looks behind her, startling Thomas for the sudden movement.

"Is something wrong?"

"I thought I heard someone calling my name." she said with a plain voice, still looking behind.

Thomas looked around but couldn't hear anything and what was he doing, trying to hear someone _like a dog?!_

Teresa looks at the front, "Maybe it's my imagination." she puts her earphones again, "I have to go."

"Yeah, sure." he moves aside and lets the raven girl walk away.

Thomas watches her leave, something moving inside him but couldn't quite understand what. Shaking his head, he gets his books out of his locker and goes to his next class. He didn't share this class with Minho, so we would have to find something to distract himself.

The bell rang and everyone got in their own classes, leaving the halls empty. A few minutes passed since the class had started. As the teacher wrote something on the board, Thomas -along with the rest of the class- was writing on his notebook. It hadn't even been 10 minutes and Thomas was already bored. Usually when he and the Asian male had classes together, they would whisper or send notes between them without the teacher knowing. Typical behavior of best friends. But now he felt bored. He sighed and continued writing.

Suddenly, he raises his head and looks around, having caught a faint scent and trying to see where that sweet smell came from. It was a mix between cinnamon and a bit of carnations (just a bit). It was so overwhelming that he couldn't concentrate. He looked around, trying to find the source but it seemed like no one in this class gave off that scent. Was it a girl with a new perfume? No, he didn't smell anything when he arrived at the classroom. So where did it came from?

Then he heard some voices, like whispers and again looked around but no one seemed to be talking, or at least their conversations didn't fit with the one he was hearing.

 _"So you were saying you were from London?"_ that was the voice of the vice-principal, but with who he was talking? Also, where was he? Thomas could hear his voice like he was in the classroom.

 _"Yes, from Southwark to be more precise."_ answered a smooth voice. It had an accent and by the tone of the voice, they had to be a guy.

The voices became clearer as they got closer to the classroom, walking through the hallways. The scent became stronger too and Thomas knew it belonged to the one talking to the vice-principal. There were also two heartbeats that came from behind the door. _'Where the hell did that came from?'_ His eyes fell on the door just in time for it to open.

The vice-principal entered the classroom, someone following him from behind. A slim, gorgeous blond guy was standing behind the vice-principal, clutching the strap of his satchel over his shoulder and looking around the room as the man talked to their teacher.

The teacher nodded and the vice-principal turned to the class, who was looking at the front,

"Alright, class, this is our new student, Newton Argent. Please do your best to make him feel welcome."

The vice-principal turned to leave and the teacher pointed at the empty seat behind Thomas. The blond nodded and walked towards the place he was assigned, trying not to bother anyone as they continued copying what the teacher was writing on the board. He sat on his seat and put his satchel over his lap, opening it and taking out a notebook. In front of him, Thomas couldn't concentrate in anything that wasn't this boy's scent. Cinnamon. Cinnamon. _Cinnamon!_ It was stronger now than it was a minute ago. What the hell?!

Even immersed in his inner turmoil, Thomas heard the faint _"Where's my pen?"_ coming from the beautiful person behind him.

The blond continued searching, half arm inside his satchel, when a hand appeared in front of him, holding a dark pen. He looked up at Thomas, who had turned around and was currently holding the pen to him.

The blond -Newt- smiles, "Thanks." and takes the pen, looking at his notebook before opening it in a blank, neat page.

Thomas turned back to face the board, but he wasn't paying attention to it. His mind was all over the place. His hands were sweaty, and his heart was beating fast. That small smile made something inside of him stir. And he liked it.

 

* * *

 

The last class came to an end and so did school; everyone exited their classrooms and went to the lockers to retrieve their things. And Minho and Thomas weren't an exception. After Thomas had the good fortune to spend two consecutive classes with Newt, he sorely had to separate from the Brit when Minho came and told him to go to the lockers, since they were going to sit together in the bus.

So they approached the lockers. Thomas' hand was stretching to his locker but he stops mid air as he smelled something. Something kind of familiar. Something like a warm, rich and honey-like scent. Turning to look around, he just sees a few boys and girls standing near their lockers, some talking with each other, others taking their books out.

That's when he notices him. A boy his age with light brown hair, pale green eyes and light olive skin is staring right at his direction: staring right at him. He faintly hears someone calling out for him but he can't move. Neither of them moves.

_"...omas..."_

He stares into those green eyes and feels like he has seen them before, but doesn't remember where. _'Maybe at one of your classes.'_ his brain tells him.

" _-hey_ , Thomas."

Thomas turns to look at Minho, who was calling him. The Asian was standing beside him with his backpack ready.

"Dude, is everything alright?"

Thomas turns back at where that guy was standing but finds there's no one. _'Where did he go? Was I imagining things?'_ "Sorry. What was that again?" he asks as he turns to face his friend.

"I said I forgot my book at the classroom."

"Okay. I'll wait here."

Minho nods and jogs towards the classroom, leaving Thomas alone at his locker. He looks at his locker, breathing deeply and shaking his head. _'It's a tough day. Everyone has them.'_ He nodded to himself, opening his locker, ready to take his books out when his ear caught the faint voices of two guys a few lockers away from him.

"Hey, you saw the new kid? The blond British?"

 _'They are talking about Newt.'_ thought Thomas.

The other one answered, "Yeah. He was smoking hot!" he lowered his tone, "So, are you gonna bust a move or something?"

The other guy -whom Thomas recognized as Matthew, one of his classmates- snorted, "Better. I'm gonna destroy any chance anyone might ever have with him. And when I'm done with that, I'm gonna get him all alone, and I'm gonna get my hands all over that tight little body."

Thomas started gritting his teeth, feeling his jaw clench. His hand was gripping his locker door so hard his knuckles were turning white.

"Oh! But will he like it? I mean, he seems kind of quiet and reserved."

"Dude, please. Once he gets some of this," he points at his body, like he was some kind of Adonis or something, "he's gonna beg for more. I'll bet he likes to get loud. Maybe he's even a screamer." Thomas was now definitely gripping his locker tight, the metal was silently screeching. He didn't notice the taste of blood coming from his mouth for how hard he was clenching his teeth. He just could hear the jerk keep talking, "How is he gonna feel, laying on my bed, stretched just for _me_." the brunet's arms trembled as his grip got tighter, his head leaning forward. His whole body was pumping with adrenaline, he could feel it. "How's it gonna be when he's screaming _my_ name?"

Thomas trembled with fury and the sound of metal being torn was heard. As he came back to himself, he could hear some murmurs around him but didn't knew why. The two guys who were talking about Newt were staring at him too. Slowly, he turned his head to the door of his locker and understood what everyone was murmuring about: he had bent his locker's door. With one hand.

Out of the students that were starting to form in a bunch, he could pick out Newt staring at him with confused yet worried eyes. His heart was beating fast. He had to leave. He had to leave now. Closing his locker the best he could -since it was bent-, Thomas grabbed his backpack and ran towards the school main door, exiting the building and running as fast as his legs could take him.

 

* * *

 

Thomas entered his house at the speed of lighting, shutting the door close and leaning over it, breathing heavily. He had run all over from the school back to his house. _What the hell?!_ He heard something behind him, so he turned around, facing Vince and Mary. They were looking at him with eyebrows up, waiting for him to say something. Thomas licked his lips,

"Uh..."

"Something happened at school?" asked Vince, "Something... out of order?"

"Why'd you say that?"

The man starts walking towards him in slow steps, "Because school ends at 2:25 and it's a 15-20 minutes ride." he stops, "It's only 2:29." Thomas doesn't answer. He stood there, not daring to move an inch as the two adults stare at him, "Let me see, let me see." he waits for a moment before clapping, "You hit someone?"

Thomas frowned. _What?_ "What?"

"He's not a savage, Vince. Did you ran faster than anyone else?"

"Come on, he's already fast. That wouldn't be."

"Yeah, you're right."

Something in Vince's eyes lit and he grinned, "You broke a locker."

Thomas looked at him, "Wha- yes. How did you knew-

"Your father did the same when he was your age."

Mary smiled, "Aww, do you remember that?"

"What the hell guys?!" yelled Thomas.

"We told you this morning. You're a werewolf."

"No. No, no, no. That's impossible."

"Have weird things being happening since you woke up?" asked Vince, catching Thomas' attention, "I don't know, maybe... hearing things you shouldn't? Your sense of smelling is that of a dog?"

"That's me being paranoid because it's my birthday."

"And how do you explain what happened with your locker?"

Thomas went mute. He didn't know how that had happened. He felt so angry at hearing those guys talking about Newt in a lewd way he saw red.

"Thomas."

The brunet looked up at the woman smiling softly at him, "Honey, it's okay to feel confused about it. But don't worry; we'll be here for you." Vince nodded to show him he agreed with Mary.

Thomas didn't knew how to react. He thought about the strange things that happen since he woke up. Then he stared at the two adults who take care of him, almost as if they were his parents. So why wouldn't you believe what your parents told you, right?

Mary looked at Vince and back at him; she smiled and joined her hand in front of her, "Dinner is ready. Let's eat, shall we?"

She and Vince walked to the dining room, hopping Thomas would follow. The brunet did so, and as he walked to the table, his eyes fell over the videotape lying on top of the table. He grabbed it and went upstairs to his room. He puts the tape over his desk and closes his door without looking back. He didn't need to think about it right now; what he needed was to eat something.

 

* * *

 

At night, Thomas came out of the bathroom after his shower wearing loose grey pants and dark grey shirt, the towel around his shoulders. He threw the towel to his bed and went to sit on his desk. He had to finish some essay for the end of the week, so he better do it now. As he was writing down on a paper, his eyes traveled his desk and fell over the tape Mary had given to him.

He started thinking about this whole werewolf thing. At first he thought Vince and Mary were playing a joke on him, but with what happened today at school made him rethink things. He did smell things better, even those who surrounded him. He heard conversations at long distance. He had the enough strength to tear a locker with one hand. He had some questions and needed to know the answers. Biting his lip and throwing away his pen, he grabbed the tape, and moments later he was sitting on his bed, remote controller on hand and the TV on.

A man in his forties appeared on the screen; he had short light blond hair, blue eyes and was wearing a lab coat in what appeared to be a science lab room -there was a board with some stuff written behind him,

"The term lycanthrope is derived from the Greek myth of 'Lycaon', the King of Arcadia. And for his cruelty, he was later transformed into a wolf by Zeus. Turned into a monster as punishment for his own monstrous actions. But lycanthrope as we all know is just another name for... Werewolf."

Thomas blinked a few times, his attention now totally in the video.

"The half-man, half-wolf legend, which appears in dozens of different cultures from the Vilkatas of Lithuania ([x](https://36.media.tumblr.com/f2b132686a49a1c17d19aff830690806/tumblr_o0d3h15DMd1stvuwto2_1280.png)); to the Wawkalak of Russia ([x](https://40.media.tumblr.com/9c52a25798dbc5874180762dcc75982f/tumblr_o0d3h15DMd1stvuwto1_1280.png)); to the more commonly known Loup Garou of France ([x](https://36.media.tumblr.com/aa9798f51c70f9d8926381b9f5640c44/tumblr_o0d3h15DMd1stvuwto3_1280.png))." he stared at the screen as the images of the creatures were shown, something in his chest moving.

He got startled by his phone ringing beside the remote controller. He muted the video but didn't pause it. Grabbing his phone, he answered it,

"Hello?" he looked at the TV.

_"Thomas, you ugly shank, I swear if you ever do that again, I will go to your house and smother you to death."_

As Minho spoke, he saw in the screen a 'werewolf' grabbing someone by their feet and dragging them out of their bed. The person fell to the ground and screamed as the wolf launched at his throat, blood spilling everywhere.

"Aha?"

_"Dude, you told me you would wait for me and when I came back you were gone."_

"Sorry, I... I remembered Vince asked me to do something after school and I was running late."

Over the screen, a girl was running in the woods, looking back with a horrified expression. Her hair was falling all over her face but she didn't seem to worry about it. She was running from something big and black. The scene changed to a shot of a full moon. The man that was talking before appeared again as he pointed at the moon, obviously explaining something. Thomas took the control and remove the muting but lowered the volume down.

"When the full moon crests in the sky, whosever unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse turns into a wolf."

A scene from 'An American Werewolf in London' is shown next, where the main character has his painful transformation. Thomas had seen the movie once and now that he saw that scene, it hurt him more to see.

_"What are you watching?"_

"Uh, a documental."

The animalistic growls of the main character as his transformation concluded were heard through the phone.

_"About what?"_

"Wild dogs?"

 _"Oh, thank God! For a moment I thought you were watching Twilight or something like that. You know, Jacob turning into a wolf and that stuff."_ Thomas' blood turned into ice and he stilled, _"Well, I must go. See you tomorrow at school."_

"...Yeah, see ya."

He hears Minho hang up and he lowers his phone to his bed. The video was still playing, although the scene changes with the man in another room with another board, "Besides from being born like that, one may become a werewolf by being bitten, a curse, drinking water from a wolf's paw print, and many other ways."

Thomas stops the video. He sighs and runs a hand over his face, feeling tired about all of this. He lies down on his back for a moment, staring at the ceiling. Why him? Why now? Why? How was he going to be able to maintain a normal life while dealing with... _this_? He stared at the ceiling, feeling his eyelids heavier than before and let darkness take his mind.

 

* * *

 

Thomas entered the building like it was any other day. Except this was different because a week ago he didn't knew he was a freakin' werewolf and now he has to calm down before he bends something else and they take him to the vet. Wow, he started sounding like Minho and his bad jokes. He shook his head and walked towards his locker.

He felt like some people were staring at him, but he wasn't sure so he ignored it. Once he reached his locker he stared at the half open bend metal door. He lightly touched it before sighing and opening it, taking his stuff out. As he was rambling on his mind, he wasn't paying much attention at his surroundings.

_"Hey,"_

He got startled by a hand over his shoulder, and as he turned around -ready to attack, what the hell?- he saw Newt pulling his hand back.

"Sorry."

The brunet shook his head, "No, I wasn't paying attention. It's my fault." he turned around and continued to take his books out. Shit, calm down, Thomas!

"Are you feeling better?" he looked at Newt, "I mean, you practically ran out of school the other day, so..."

"Oh!" he clears his throat, "I'm fine. I just... remembered I had to do something and I was running late. That's all." Newt nods.

Thomas closes his locker. Well, he tries because it won't close as it is bend. He looks at Newt, who hasn't even glanced at the locker. He looks back at the locker and at the blond.

"Well?"

"Well?"

"Aren't you gonna ask about the locker?" he says looking at it.

"Yeah... Mine has a hole at the corner that connects it with the next locker. Today I found a lipstick." he says with a smile, "I guess the school needs to check its facilities."

Thomas knew what he was doing. He was trying to let Thomas know it wasn't a big deal and that whatever it was, he wasn't going to judge him.

"Thanks."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Newt smile and that made something inside him squirm.

"So... Your friend told me yesterday was your birthday."

Thomas frowns, "My friend?"

"Minho?"

"Oh, yeah. Minho, right." smooth, Thomas.

Newt smiles, "Well, happy late birthday." he extends his hand and Thomas does the same. The blond drops something on his hand and Thomas brings it closer so he can see what it is. It's a stone. The stone had a stripe of yellow running down the center that seemed to glow and had distinctive features similar to that of a cat's eye.

_Oh._

"It's a cat's eye." says the blond, "In my family we use it as a good luck charm. I know it's kind of silly and not much of a present but-"

"No, it's great." he smiles at Newt, "Thanks. I'll keep it with my life."

Newt smiles again and Thomas decides he always wants to see him smile. The Brit puts a hand over his satchel beside him, "What class do you have now?"

"Uh, Maths."

"Then we should hurry if we want to get a seat " and with that he turns around -Thomas could still see a smile- and walks away, clearly wanting the brunet to follow.

Thomas watches him walk in an almost dazed state, completely ignoring his still not able to close locker. He looks at the cat's eye and smiles; he flips it into the air with his thumb, and catches it before putting it in his pocket and running to catch the blond.

 

* * *

 

At lunch time Thomas was waiting in the line for his food while Minho went to take a table for them. Thank God today was pizza day! Thomas inhaled the delicious aroma of cheese and pepperoni; he thanked the lunch lady and walked to the table with two trays on hand; his and Minho's. Once he reached the table, he puts the tray before his friend and went to sit, putting his down too.

He was about to take a bite from his pizza when he saw the guy from before, sitting on a far away table by himself, eating peacefully. Thomas lowered his slice and with his feet he nudged Minho, having his attention,

"Hey, Min. Who is that guy?" he nods at the guy's direction.

Minho looks around and at the direction the brunet told him, "Who, Aris?"

 _'Aris.'_ he repeats the name in his mind. Yeah, he has heard that name in some of his classes before.

"Why you ask?"

"It's just... I saw him the other day staring at me, and was wondering about him."

"Staring? Man, that's weird." he licks his fingers, "We have the same age, or I think he's a year older than us. We share some classes with him. He's normally with that guy. You know, the tall, lanky blond?" he bites his lips, trying to remember the name, "Gally, I think."

"Why's that?"

"Don't know. Many people say they are cousins. Some others say they are together, but you never see them lovey dovey. They just sit together in all their classes and at lunch, and leave school at the same time."

Thomas looks at him, "Well, that's not a bad thing. It's like when you and I both wait for the other and leave school at the same time." Minho nods, saying 'yeah, you're right', "Besides, he's not there with him."

Minho looks up and then back down at his food, "You were saying?"

Thomas frowns in confusion and looks to see a tall, blond, slim guy put his tray down and sit beside Aris. The lighter brunet started talking to him as they ate.

He barely registers when Minho squirms in his seat and takes something out from his pocket. "Hey, you want one?" he looks at the two silver packs in front of him, "My little sister insisted. They are cinnamon roll flavored or something."

Thomas accepted the pop tart and opened it; he took a bite from it and stared at the tart. It did smelled and taste like cinnamon.

Cinnamon.

_Cinnamon._

He blinked a few times as his mind made the connection: Where was Newt?

He looked around and couldn't find the blond Brit anywhere. He wasn't even at the cafeteria. Where was he? Thomas stood up, feeling his best friend's eyes on him as he did so.

"I, uh, think I forgot something at classroom. I better go and check it. Catch you later?"

"But what about your slice of pizza?"

"You can have it." and with that made his way to run away.

Minho mock salutes at him, "Say no more." and grabs the slice, putting it over his tray and starts eating.

Thomas runs out of the cafeteria and through the hallways. After having the first two classes with Newt, they had to separate for History, but he shared that class with Minho so it was okay. But Newt hadn't been at the cafeteria and that was weird. Where was he right now? Why his heart was beating so hard for not being able to see the blond?

He looks around trying to catch his scent, but unfortunately even though it was lunch time, there were students at the hallways and Thomas couldn't identify the scent. He needs to get better at this.

Wait, what?

_'Did I just really think that I should learn how to be a werewolf?'_

Shaking his head, he walks to the corner of the hall, just before turning around the corner. _'Maybe Newt is already at the cafeteria and I'm here playing tag. I should better go back.'_ it's what he thinks as he leans over the wall with a sigh.

"Here you go."

He hears Newt's voice over the side of the hall; also he clearly hears two heartbeats, one being the blonds'. But who was the other one?

"Thank you so much for the notes. I need to catch up with some classes, and I don't know too much people here."

"Don't worry. I wished someone had done the same for me when I first got here."

He knew that voice. _'Teresa! The girl with beautiful blue eyes! Of course.'_ He leaned on the wall, listening to their conversation -no, he wasn't a creep- and the slow calmly beating of Newt's heart.

Newt puts his notebook inside his satchel, "Well, thanks again."

"Anytime."

"I better go. Haven't eat anything," Teresa nods.

Newt goes grab his satchel and stands up, but before he can even turn around and leave, a hand over his shoulder stops him. From the other side, Thomas hears the way his heart beating changes. Turning around the corner, he poked his head and saw Matthew standing in front of Newt, grinning at him.

"Hey! Where are you going in such a hurry?"

Teresa stands up from the floor, gripping at her satchel's strap over her shoulder but she didn't leave. She took a few steps aside.

Newt shrugged, "Nowhere in particular."

Matthew scratches his neck, "Listen, me and my friends are going to the pizza parlor after school and I was wondering if you wanted to come with us?" If anyone else had asked it, it would have sounded nice. But coming from Matthew, it sounded like an invitation for something more.

Thomas hears that Newt's heart beats were rising but not because he was happy or excited. It was fear. He was scared.

Neither less the blond tried to smile politely, "Thank you, but I'm not interested." and tried leave, but the other guy wouldn't leave him.

"Come on, really?"

"No."

"It'll be fun." he presses a little forward, "It can be just the two of us, if you prefer it that way." he added with a smirk.

Newt's tone was more firm, "I said no."

Matthew raises his hand and is about to touch Newt's face,

"Come on. Don't be such a nun-

When a hand is around his wrist, stopping him mid-air. They both stunned turn to look at Thomas, who was glaring at Matthew. Neither of them saw him coming.

"He said no."

"What the hell, dude?" he rips his hand from Thomas' vice-like grip. Newt steps back near Teresa, standing beside the girl as both of them stare at the two guys. Thomas continued to glare at him, gritting his teeth and his hands turning into fists. Matthew got angrier, "Back off!"

Over the corner were the brunet had been spying, Minho and Matthew's friend appeared, their eyes catching the scene a few meters away. Matthew pushes at Thomas' chest, both glaring at the other as if looks could kill. Newt bites his lips, his eyes falling over Teresa as the girl takes a step forward. When Matthew goes to push him again, Thomas grabs his arm once more, this time with much more force. Matthew's face is red already, tugging his arm with no avail.

"Keep your hands off me!"

In his fury, Matthew tugs at his arm harder as Thomas lets go of it, the abrupt movement makes Matthew slap Teresa hard, throwing her to the floor. Minho sees this and -throwing his school bag to the floor- races towards the fighting boys, trying to get them apart. Newt helps the raven girl get up from the ground, checking her nose for any sign of blood. Matthew's friend also intervenes, grabbing at his friend from behind. Minho steps in front of Thomas and pushes at his chest; pushing him hard at the wall, the brunet trying to lung at the other guy.

 _"What the hell's going on?"_ they hear the voice of a teacher, walking towards them, "Hey! Enough! Enough!"

Thomas growls at Matthew, trying to take a step forward but Minho keeps restraining him. Newt is still at Teresa's side, both looking at Thomas and at the teacher. The teacher looks at all of them, removing his glasses as he points at them,

"All of you! Detention after school!"

 

* * *

 

After school ended and everyone (including teachers) left; Thomas, Newt, Minho and Teresa had to say together with Matthew and his friend for detention. The teacher who found them had given Thomas, Newt and Matthew the task to organize the books from the classroom. While Minho, Teresa and Matthew's friend had to clean the lockers from outside. Currently inside a classroom were Thomas and Newt, organizing the books left on the desks over the bookshelf.

Newt puts the bunch of books on his hand over the shelf, "Those were the last ones."

Thomas sighs in relief, "Finally! I thought we were never going to end. God, I hate staying at school late. Since last year I swore never stay at school for no reason."

Thomas turns to sit on the nearby chair, leaning his head back, staring at the ceiling. He meant what he said. He had made a kind of vow to never stay at school if it wasn't necessary. And saving the beautiful angel in front of him falls into the category of 'necessary'.

"Thank you."

The other voice in the room brought him back from his thoughts. Thomas blinked a few times and sat straight, looking at Newt a few steps away from him.

"For what you did, I mean. You didn't had to-

"I did." Newt stares at him, making Thomas feel nervous, "I-I mean, he was pushing you. And you had already said 'no', so..."

The blond chuckles, nodding at him. He turns to the window when his expression changes into confusion. He turns to look at the brunet, "How did you heard me say that? You weren't near us at that time."

Shit.

Thomas feels his heart beating fast. He did not thought of that! He stands up,

"Well, you know... I was standing nearby and I happened to hear your conversation with Matthew."

"Talking about him. Where is he?"

Thomas looks around and indeed, notices that the other boy is nowhere in sight. Not that he mind. He didn't wanted to be near that jerk nor wanted Newt near him. But they all had detention so he had to do his share. Something clicked on his mind. Taking his phone out of his pocket, he quickly types a text to Minho:

**_'Is Matthew's friend with you?'_ **

He looks around the classroom, waiting for the reply that came not even a minute later.

**_'No. He said he was going to the bathroom about 15 minutes ago. I don't think he's coming back.' -Min._ **

"I have good and bad news."

"What's the bad news?"

"Bad news is that Matthew has left the building."

"And the good ones?"

"Matthew has left the building."

Thomas swore Newt's smile illuminated the whole classroom and his melodic laugh filled it, "Oh my god, Tommy. Don't be mean."

Newt seemed to miss the way Thomas' eyes widen as he turned to look at the green board. Thomas felt his hands sweat. He just called him 'Tommy'! Oh dear God. He wanted to stretch his hand forward and touch Newt but he restrained himself.

"...Hey," the other turns to look at him, "Since we already finished with the books, would you like to go for something to eat?"

"What about your friend and Teresa?"

"I bet they're already finishing. We could go and help them so we can get the hell out of here."

Newt nods, grabbing his satchel from the desk, "Okay."

They exit the classroom and stand near the door; Thomas goes to grab his phone to text Minho that they were going to help him and Teresa when he notices it missing from his pocket. He turns to Newt,

"Wait here. I forgot my phone."

As he returns to the classroom, Newt stays outside, right at the hall. Thomas walks towards the seat he had sat and grabs his phone from the table, grinning as he does so. He's about to turn around and leave when he smells something awful. He scrunched his nose; it smelled like when your food goes bad in the fridge and moss. Feeling another presence in the room, he turns his head at his side and gets startled by a figure standing right at the back of the classroom, hiding in the shadows. It was a teacher.

 _"Woah!"_ he puts a hand over his chest now that he notices that it's a teacher. "Hi, um, miss Erinyes, right? You're the sub for the Pre-algebra teacher, right?" the teachers stays still, "I'm Thomas Hawthorne. I take some of your classes. Forgot my phone here," he says raising his phone, "We- we were just leaving."

Then the teacher starts moving her head to her right until it touches her shoulder, like she had a tic.

"Are you- are you okay?" something felt off. He knew it. Her body started moving as her head continued to touch her shoulder.

Before he could try and say he was going to leave now, the teacher's head snapped to the left, her hair fell from her bun and over her face. As her body convulsed, her blouse tore apart revealing leathery wings like a bat coming from her back. Her long, black hair fell in front, covering her nude torso. She snarled at him, showing a mouth full of huge yellow fangs, and glowing eyes.

Thomas' eyes widen in horror, _"Holy shit!"_

The creature launches at him, extending her claws in an attempt to catch him but he manages to avoid it. Instead she collided with the chairs and tables, falling over the floor growling; in that time, Thomas ran outside and closed the door, holding the knob. Newt was still standing there, looking at him with a frown for his outburst.

"What's wrong?"

Thomas is about to speak when there's a bang on the door, making him hold the knob to keep the door close.

"What's that?" asks Newt, taking a step back.

Thomas let go of the knob, "We have to go! We have to go right now!" and grabs Newt's hand; they start running as the creature kept banging the door in an attempt to get out.

 

* * *

 

At the other side of the school, Minho and Teresa were still cleaning the lockers. Minho was over the left side and Teresa on the other side. The Asian wet the towel he had on hand and glanced at the raven girl; she had her earphones on, like always and was squeezing the towel.

"Hey," he called for her but she -for obvious reasons- couldn't hear him. He looked around and found a pencil on the floor. He picked it up and threw it beside her, gaining her attention.

She looks at him, taking off an earphone, "What is it?"

"Why do you always have your earphones on?"

"Is it a crime?"

"No."

"Does it bother you?"

"No."

"Then why do you care?"

Minho stares at her. He goes to open his mouth to say something but decided against it. He shakes his head and turns to the lockers.

Teresa rolls her eyes, puts back on her earphone and turns back to the lockers. She then glances to the Asian's way and back at the front. Bringing her hands to her ears, she takes off her earphones and waits. Waits to hear anything weird like it always happens. But nothing came. Just the sound of Minho's breathing and the towel against metal. She sighed in relief and putted the earphones inside her jeans.

She continued cleaning the lockers, and as she kneeled to submerge the towel in the bucket, she heard a whisper. Still kneeled, she frowned and looked at the left side right at Minho. He had his back at her.

"What did you said?"

He turns to face her, towel in hand, "What?"

Then she hears it again, but this time it comes with a screeching noise.

"What's that?" asks Teresa, standing up and taking a step towards him.

Minho looks around, raising an eyebrow, "What's what?" he puts the towel inside the bucket.

Teresa looks around, having heard another noise but there wasn't anything there. She tilts her head, a frown on her face as she says "Don't you hear that?" in a whisper.

"Hear what?"

Then the sound of sneakers is heard through the hallways and as they turn their heads they see Thomas and Newt running towards them. They seemed to be yelling something, but they could only hear faint noises.

"I'm sorry, what?" yelled Minho at his friend.

 _"Run!"_ but the other still couldn't hear him.

"What?"

_"Run!"_

Minho frowns, " _'Run'_? What for?"

A screeching yell is heard, startling both Minho and Teresa, and then a winged figure appears through the way Thomas and Newt came from. It was flying towards them, arms stretched forward.

The other two were a few steps away when Minho yelled _"RUN!"_ as he and Teresa turned to run. Thomas and Newt catch with them and they all four ran away from the creature. "What the hell is that thing?!" he yells at his friend.

"How am I supposed to know?!"

"You're the one who brought it to us!"

"Oh, yeah. That explains everything!"

"Could you guys keep your talk for another time?!" yelled Teresa.

"Hey! This is between this ugly shank and me!"

A horrifying screech reminded them of the creature chasing after them. The creature stretched its long claws out.

Newt looked behind and saw the creature, "That thing is still after us! Where should we go?!"

"The library!" yelled Teresa.

"You need a card to access!" yelled Thomas as they turned the corner and continued running.

"You have yours?" asked Minho.

"No, I'm sorry! I was too busy running for my life to grab my backpack and its contents!"

"Shut it both of you!"

And just like some scene from a horror movie when a busty girl is being chased by the killer, Newt trips with an invisible pebble and falls to the ground. Instinctively, Thomas stopped and turned to him,

_"Newt!"_

He runs back until he's kneeling beside the blond; Minho and Teresa are nowhere in sight. Thomas looks at the front and sees the creature flying towards them. He looks around them trying to find something to throw. His eyes fall on Newt's satchel, so he grabs it and throws it at the creature, whose wings covers it and throws it back to Thomas, knocking him flat to the floor. He and the blond stare as the creature shrieks again, launching at them.

Thomas closes his eyes and waits for the imminent attack, but it never comes. Opening an eye to look around, he sees a bubble-like, transparent dome-shaped force field around him and Newt. Opening both eyes, he sees Newt holding both arms up as if he were holding the dome to avoid being crushed. _'But why is he doing that? Wouldn't he get hurt?'_ That's when he notices it: He's not trying to avoid the dome to fall over us. He's the one making the dome. It's a shield. But how...?

Whatever Newt was doing, it seemed to start losing its effect as some parts of it were breaking. Newt's arms trembled, gritting his teeth as the creature continued to push forward. Then the dome-shaped shield broke, leaving them defenseless after the creature. Thomas putted a hand in front of Newt, trying to shield him with his body as the creature took a step back, preparing to launch at them.

_"HEY!"_

The creature turns its head to the side, where the voice came and it gets hit by a fire extinguisher right in the face. Teresa steps back, holding the fire extinguisher on her hands as Minho runs at her side when the creature snarls at her. Bringing its tail to the air and then down in a shift move, the creature hits Minho and Teresa on the back of their knees, throwing them to the floor next to Thomas and Newt.

They look at the front as the creature advances towards them. Seeing that, Thomas puts his arms in front of Newt and Minho, his right hand barely touching Teresa's torso in an attempt to protect everyone. Thomas felt his heart beating in his ears and he could hear the hearts of the other three. They were beating fast too.

Then out of nowhere, just as the creature is about to launch at them, showing its teeth and glowing eyes, a glass is heard broken and the creature sets on fire. It lets out a shriek, swaying side to side in an attempt to extinguish the fire. Thomas and the rest stared in surprise as the creature falls to its knees and screams at the top of its lungs until it consumes itself. Ashes cover the space where the creature was standing just a few seconds ago; there's also some smoke on the hallway.

Thomas and the rest stay there on the floor, breathing heavily as they try to process what just happened. Thomas turns his head to look at Newt, who turned to look at him too with wide eyes. Teresa puts a hand on her chest as Minho manages to clear his throat,

"What the hell was that?!"

_"It's called a 'Fury'."_

They all turned startled at the sound of a voice, and the sound of feet approaching them. At the end of the hall, two blurry figures appear, making their way towards them. As the smoke dissipates, they see Aris and Gally.

"What?!" called out Minho in high pitched voice.

"Female chthonic deities of vengeance. But I think 'Furies' is a lot better." says Aris shrugging, "If she wasn't here to take a guilty person away, then she was here looking for a magical creature. A werewolf, to be precise." he says the last part staring at Thomas. The other three turn to look at the brunet,

"And it seems it found it on you, Thomas."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you think? Good? At least 'good' for the first chapter? Was there something you didn't understand or something like that? If that's the case then tell me.  
> Also I'm going to use the name of "Beacon Hills" cus I don't have that much imagination :p but just so you know, this is not in the Teen Wolf universe nor other universe/show.
> 
> Well then, I'm just gonna wait 'till next Friday to update the next chapter, okay? Hope you liked this chapter, and you decide to give it a try. See you 'till Friday!


	2. Nightshifter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! Here's the second chapter! I'm so excited about this, really!

Everything was in silence. The school was in complete silence, even though there were six people there. It was so quiet Thomas could hear all around the building. The soft blowing of the wind rustling the branches of the trees surrounding the school; the withered leafs rolling around the parking lot; the five -ignoring his own- heart beats in the same room.

All this was happening so fast. Too fast for Thomas' liking. One moment he woke up as any other day. The other he was at school running for his life as a creature chased him and his friends, and two boys appear telling him that they know he's a werewolf. He could feel his best friend's eyes on him. Teresa's confused eyes on him.

_Newt's eyes on him._

They were currently at the Chemistry lab, sitting on the metal stools while Aris and Gally were standing in front of them, waiting for them to speak. But none of them did. They didn't know where to start. How do you start a conversation including werewolves and magic?

Aris raises his eyebrows, "So is someone gonna talk or...?"

Teresa is the first to talk, licking her lips, "Who are you? Or... what are you?"

" _'Who'_ , thank you very much."

"I'm not very sure about the _'who'_ part." Gally said. Aris glared at him, crossing his arms. Gally ignored him and continued, "He's a witch and he was sentenced to spend 100 years as a mortal teenager as punishment for attempting to take over the world."

Minho blinks a few times, "Are you serious?"

Gally crosses his arms in front of his chest, looking dead serious at the Asian male, "Do I look like I'm joking?"

Minho rolls his eyes and turns away. Teresa bites her lips, "This is too much. It seems like we are in some kind of dream." she looks between Aris and the dirty blond, "H-how do we know you are telling the truth? That this is not some kind of trick?"

Aris nods. Fair point.

He looks around the room, his eyes falling on Gally for a moment and the other looked at him. They seemed to exchange some kind of conversation without words, when the brunet turned to them again,

"You see this?" he asks holding his hand up, showing a black leather cuff bracelet around his wrist.

"Yeah?"

"It's a magic-absorbing device; whoever wears it will lose all his or her magic. Not only that. If I take this off I'll turn into a cat."

Thomas, Newt, Teresa and Minho stood still, looking at each other confused. Gally proceeded to take the cuff off, and with a swift flick of his wrist, a green flame appeared over the lighter brunet's hand. They all stared at the green flam with fascination and a little bit of fear. As fast as it appeared it disappeared, and the tall blond put back the cuff on his wrist. Okay. That was enough proof of them telling the truth.

"Why a cat?" asks Minho.

Aris shrugs, "Why 100 years?" the Asian moves his head like saying _'alright'_. "I don't know. A cat sounded good for _them_."

A part of them wanted to know who 'them' were, but right now it didn't seemed like the right time to ask. Thomas frowns, something on his mind finally making 'click' as his eyes widen, pointing at Aris, "You're the cat outside my window!"

"Indeed."

"That's why I smelled honey at school." he said more to himself.

Teresa frowned, "You _smelled_ him?"

"Dude."

Thomas' eyes widen at the silent accusations, " _Wha-_ It's not like I was sniffing at him directly!"

Aris shakes his head, "It's not his fault; those are his werewolf reflexes. But it's a good thing that you can identify scents. Everyone has their own scent."

"I can't still believe the whole 'werewolf' thing." says Minho shaking his head with a sigh. _'Me as well, buddy.'_ thought Thomas.

Aris seemed to shrug at him, "And it seems that there's not only a werewolf in Beacon Hills, but another witch as well." he says looking at Newt.

Minho, Teresa and Thomas turn to look at the Brit, who opens his mouth but closes it in a thin line, apparently not knowing what to say. Thomas continues to stare at him. That explains a lot, actually.

"Okay, okay, okay! Slow down, everyone!" says the Asian, throwing his arms around. He stills, "Are you meaning to tell us that this ugly shank" he points at Thomas, "is a werewolf, and that's why that thing... whatever its name is, attacked us and almost killed us? But we were saved by your magic 'cause it seems that you and the new kid are some kind of magicians?"

"Yes."

Minho nods, seemingly accepting all the information. His gaze turns and he looks at Gally, "And what are you? Another sorcerer? Vampire? A _freaking_ dragon?!"

"He's my guardian."

"Your guardian?" asks Teresa.

"He has to make sure that I don't take this off," he holds his hand up, showing his cuff, "and if I do to put it back on, that I don't wanna try to rule the world again, _blah blah blah_."

"So he's your babysitter?"

Aris shrugs, "If you want to call it that, yeah."

Gally shakes his head, "No, no, no. I'm not anyone's babysitter. You are old enough to take care of your ass."

Aris holds his cuffed hand up, "Then remove the cuff."

"Not in a trillion years."

"Um, yeah," says Teresa, "I don't want to be rude and cut this little chat but does anyone know how are we getting to our houses?"

Gally raises a car key as Aris says "We have a car."

 

* * *

 

They drove back to everyone's house. First they drove to Teresa's house and both Aris and Gally went together to her door to explain her parents why they were so late. Obviously they lied and said that they were working on a project together and that it was half their grade, so it was very important. Her parents bought it and thanked them for taking her home. The next stop was Minho's house, and after saying goodbye to Thomas, _'I need to sleep all night; we'll talk tomorrow.'_ he and the other two boys went to his door, leaving Thomas and Newt alone in the car. The brunet and the blond were in silence, both looking at their hands or at the glass.

"So... magic, huh?"

Newt turned to look at him, "Yeah, sorry about that. I'm not used to introduce myself with _'Hello, I'm Newt and I have magic. I hope we can get along.'_ "

"You didn't freaked out when I bended the locker with one hand. What gives me the right to judge you?"

Newt smiled, looking at his shoes. His heart was beating with a normal, calm rhythm and Thomas liked that.

"The cat's eye I gave you as a present? I told you that in my family we used it as a good luck charm. It was truth." he bites his lips, "It was supposed to protect you."

Thomas wants to take his hands and bring them to his mouth. He wants to kiss them. He scratches the back of his neck, "I was hearing your conversation with Matthew from the other side of the hallway. That's why I knew when to interrupt."

Newt smiles, "I was about to hex him when you arrived."

"Really?"

"He wasn't even going to know what hit him."

"Suits him right."

And they laugh.

Next was Newt's house, and the blond asked them not to go and tell his parents the reason why he was late (the fury chase). He was tired and didn't want to explain it.

"I'll walk you to your door." Thomas said as he exited the car.

They walked towards his house, stopping in front of the door. Neither of them said a word. Thomas was looking at his shoes, while Newt was playing with the strap of his satchel.

"Thanks."

The Brit looks at him, "What for?"

"Saving me."

Newt stares at him for a moment, and Thomas needs to look away before he can feel his face burn. He hears a jump coming from the blond's heart.

"Thank you."

Thomas looks at him, "What for?"

"Coming back for me."

They stare at each other, no blinking at any moment. Just when Newt offers him a smile, Thomas does the same and they chuckle.

"Okay." he turns to the door, keys in hand, "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

And with that, Newt enters his house, closing the door behind as he looked at the brunet. Thomas stood there a few more seconds before leaving towards the car. Aris and Gally still had to drive him to his house.

 

* * *

 

Waking up to go to school seemed weird to Thomas. He felt like the last two days had been some bizarre dream and that werewolves didn't exist. Or at least there were none in this town.  He didn't told Mary and Vince about the incident at school. They didn't need to know that. He also didn't tell them about Newt, Aris and Gally. They didn't needed to know that either.

Thomas sighed as he made his way to the main doors. He hadn't seen Minho at the school bus. Maybe he was ignoring him? He didn't blame him. Knowing that werewolves exist and that your best friend is one can be pretty heavy to some people.

As he walked over the hallways, Thomas saw his best friend over the lockers, so he made his way there. Standing beside the Asian male, Thomas turned to his locker and opened it. He felt Minho glance at him before talking,

"Hey,"

"Hey,"

They stayed in silence as they took their stuff out of their lockers. Thomas was hearing the other's heartbeat. It was steady but there was something... off.

"So yesterday actually happened." Minho said.

"Yeah."

Silence again. Thomas glanced at his side; the Asian male was taking his books out, his eyes at the front. The brunet closes his locker and turns to Minho,

"We are okay, right?"

Minho looks at him and snorts, "Dude, my best friend is a werewolf. Of course we are good." he nudges the brunet to cheer him up but Thomas wasn't having it. He felt that this was too much for his human friend. "Hey, you were there for me when I got mumps. I'm here for you now."

Thomas smiles, "Thanks." he feels relief wash over him. It had been silly questioning Minho's loyalty. Of course the raven haired male was going to be there for him. He grins, "Does it mean that you did the homework and that you are going to let me copy it?"

Minho's eyes widen comically and he groans, "Ow, shit! I completely forgot about that!" he closes his locker and grabs Thomas by the arm, "Come on, man. If I go down I'm taking you with me!" and they run towards their class before the bell rang. Yeah, they were okay.

 

* * *

 

While Thomas and Minho had their class (they managed to finish their homework, thank you very much), on the other side of the hall Newt sat in his Chemistry class, hearing at the teacher as she explained their assignment for today. The teacher then told them to work in pairs, and as everyone went to find their partners, Newt stood in his place alone, looking at his notes. Teresa had to skip this class as a teacher asked for her help in another class; and he didn't knew anyone that well to work with them. He was surprised though when someone sat in front of him.

He looked up and found Aris putting his notes on his desk, "Hey,"

"Hey," he looks around, "where's Gally?"

Aris snorts, "The sucker had to talk to a teacher about some project and I took the chance to come to class."

"You really have to be near him at all time?"

"Until dead do us part."

"That must be... hard."

"Not so much. It's so much fun to annoy him every day." he said with a grin.

Newt smiled and looked at the front of the class, where the teacher was sitting on her desk as she wrote something down. Probably their next assignment.

"Do you carry your spellbook with you?"

Newt looks back at Aris, "What?"

"Do you carry your spellbook with you?" repeats the other.

"Just a small pocket book my grandma gave to me."

"The red or blue edition?"

"Blue."

Aris nods, "That one is pretty good. It has the basics, not too complex and it does come in handy."

"You have the red one?"

"Sweetheart, I have all the books."

Newt chuckled and turned to the right to grab a book. He looked at the book and wondered for a moment. He eyed Aris,

"What kind of spell did you used to find Thomas?" _'and to know that he was a werewolf'._

"I didn't used a spell, _per se_." at the blond's confused face he continued, "As you know I'm not allowed to use magic," the blond's eyes fell to his bracelet for a second, "But not everything needs magic from the user to function." he grabs his backpack and opens it, his hands inside the bag as he searched for something. "I used an identification amulet."

"Nice."

"I know, right? With that thing we were able to find Thomas as it detects the type of supernatural you are looking for, and since we were looking for a werewolf at school it-" he stops and stays still, eyes on his backpack. Newt frowns at this. "Shit."

"What?" the blond asks.

"The amulet glows as long as you are tracking, and it stops glowing once you find the creature you were looking for." he takes the amulet out and it's glowing a cyan color, "It's still glowing."

The lighter brunet's words dawned on Newt and he knew what that meant,

"Shit."

 

* * *

 

"I don't think the werewolf the Fury was looking for it's you."

The gang listened to Aris' words. He and the Brit had run to them at lunch and told them about the amulet. They were standing outside the locker room, needing a little of privacy as the rest of the students were at the cafeteria eating. Thomas frowns. Minho blinks a few times and holds both his hands up,

"Wait. Hold on. Hold the _fuck-_

"You mean there's another werewolf in town?" asks Teresa.

"That Fury was looking for a werewolf and she didn't came to this town by mere coincidence." he sighs, "And I don't think she came alone."

"You mean there's more creatures like her?!"

"I don't know. I can't know for sure, but... I think it might be the start."

Thomas frowns and takes a step further, "The start of what?"

Aris looks up at him, "Everything."

"We need to find the werewolf." says Newt. Aris nods at him.

"How are we gonna do that?" asks Minho.

Teresa points at the glowing necklace, "We can use the amulet."

Aris grimaces,

"Maybe. But wouldn't it be strange to walk around people with a necklace that glows. And if we find him, it will stop glowing. How are we gonna explain that? No." he turns to Thomas, "What we need it's you to try and catch his scent."

Everyone stared at Thomas. The brunet felt self-conscious in that moment; he didn't knew why it had to be him. Well, he _did_ know. But there was only one little problem.

"I-I don't know how."

 

* * *

 

"I don't know how!"

"What do you mean you don't know?!"

Thomas was walking away from his best friend and the rest, as they were following him. They enter an empty classroom, closing the door behind them.

"You told me you had this weird tape that explained stuff about werewolves, right?!"

Thomas turns to look at him, "I-I didn't watch the whole thing, okay?! I fell asleep!"

"You _fell asleep_?!" Minho asks with a high pitch voice, mocking the way the brunet said _'fell asleep'_.

"It was too much, okay?! A-and I didn't knew what to do with all the information!"

"Okay, okay! Everybody calm down!" yelled Teresa, making them stop. "That's not going to help at all."

"She's right." Newt said, "We need to calm down and think." he looks at Gally and Aris, "What is the other way Thomas can find this guy?"

"We need Thomas to catch his scent. If he has it, then we can find him even in his human form." answers Aris.

"How is he gonna do that? Open every single locker and sniff it? Yeah, that won't be weirder than holding a glowing necklace."

Thomas looks at Aris, "Minho's right. What if the werewolf is looking at us while I'm doing that?"

"That's why you aren't gonna do it when people are around." the brunet frowns in confusion, "We're going to come to school at night."

 

* * *

 

The night was a little bit chilly, but thank God Thomas had brought a jacket. He had convinced Mary and Vince that he was going to work on a project at Minho's house and that he was going to spend the night. They totally bought it, so he and Minho waited for Aris and Gally to pick them up, together with Newt and Teresa.

Thomas and the gang were currently standing a few meters away from the school; the lack of light making it appear gloomy.

"Come on, we need to enter now before someone sees us." Gally said.

"Oh, good! I was hoping to add trespassing, endangerment _and_ insanity to my list of things I did today!"

Aris grins at the Asian male, "You too?"

Hidden carefully inside the branches of a nearby tree, a shadowed figure crouched silently, watching the group as they made their way towards the building.

"And what should we do while Thomas sniffs the lockers contents?" asks Minho once they are standing a few steps from the main door. Thomas nudges him.

"We could stand guard." Teresa said.

Aris nodded at her, "That's actually not a bad idea. So, we should take turns, you know, in case something happens."

Minho frowns, "Why should something happen? I mean, we have a werewolf and two sorcerers."

"He's not taking that off." says Gally pointing at the lighter brunet's bracelet.

Aris rolls his eyes, "Don't be so uptight." and turns to the others, giving his back to the dirty blond. "Thomas, we need you to be calm and concentrate. You think you can do it?"

Thomas thinks for a moment and nods, "Yeah, I'll try."

"Good. Then we are ready."

They hear Gally's sharp intake of breath and turn to look at him, only to find the dirty blond being held up —his feet no longer touching the ground— from his back by a shadowed figure with glowing eyes. The werewolf they were looking for. The dirty blond stared back at them and with blood dripping from his chin he managed to yell,

_"RUN!"_

Not having to be told twice, the rest of the group ran inside the school as if they had rockets on their feet. Thomas barely registered the sound of a body —Gally, his mind told him— being thrown against the concrete outside the school when they turned the corner. They manage to find an empty classroom and get inside, closing the door with a loud slam. They all were panting in the floor,

"Holy shit!" Minho starts coughing beside Aris.

"What are we gonna do?!" yells Newt.

Teresa bites her lips, "M-maybe we can run to the back door and-

"Are you crazy, woman?!" yells Minho, "You want to go outside?! That thing just killed Gally and now it wants to kill us too!"

"He's not dead." Aris said.

"We just saw how that-

"He's not dead." repeated Aris, glaring at him.

"Okay! He's not!"

"What are we gonna do?" asks the raven girl to Aris as he stands up.

"Continue with the plan. Only with a little detour." he holds his cuffed arm to Thomas, "Take this off."

Thomas looks at the cuff and at him, "But-

"Now it's not the time to argue about the whole _'I'm not supposed to take this off'_! You want to die?!"

Thomas stares at the leather cuff. He doesn't know if he should do it. There was a reason the boy was wearing it in the first place. But right now they need all the help they can get. Putting his fingers against the leather, he swallows hard and gently slides it along his wrist until it's off. Aris rubs his wrist once it's free,

"Now we have a chance to make it out alive." he says.

Minho rolls his eyes, "Well, geez, that makes us feel so great." and stands up.

Aris ignores him, "Okay. The werewolf is here now. Maybe we don't need to search for the right locker for its scent."

"What do you mean?"

"He's here, so the only thing we need to do is keep him the longest possible for Thomas to catch his scent, and then get the hell out."

"This looks like some scene from a horror movie, where a group of teenagers are about to be murdered by the psychotic killer." mutters the Asian male.

"Okay. Take this." he shows them a small glass jar with some black powder inside it.

"What is that?" asks Thomas.

"Mountain ash. We have to put it in every door. It will keep the werewolf inside the school so it's easier to catch it."

Teresa looks up, "But we'll be trapped in here with that thing."

Aris shakes his head, "The only one who will not be able to leave as well is Thomas because he's also a werewolf. No supernatural creature can cross it. We have to hurry." he looks around, "This place is big. We should split up."

"Said no one who survived a horror movie, ever." says Minho. Thomas rolls his eyes at his friend's commentary, but part of him knows he's right. Damn it.

Aris continues, giving a glass jar to Minho, "Okay. Minho, you take the roof." he gives the raven girl another jar, "Teresa, take the library." another to the other two, "Thomas, you and Newt take the back door. I'll do the front door and the classrooms so it doesn't escape through the windows."

Thomas, Newt and Teresa nod, ready to go already. But Minho still had some doubts about this plan. Just as the other three are turning around and walking away, he says

"What do we do if we see the werewolf?"

Aris turns to look at him over his shoulder with a grin, "Scream."

That makes Minho's blood freeze. "Okay.... But in observation of this loaded moment: I am not in favor of splitting up, nor am I three days from retiring." he turns and looks around, "I will _not_ be right back!" and goes to the stairs.

Thomas and Newt accompany Teresa so she gets to the library, and then they go to the back door, looking at each other before nodding. Thomas could just hear Newt's heartbeat and he didn't knew if he should be worried about the rest. Minho was walking carefully towards the roof, looking around for any sign of movement. Once over the roof's door, he kneeled and proceeded to pour the mountain ash. At the front door, Aris stared at the door for a couple of seconds, deciding if he should open the door and check on Gally... that if he was still laying there. He shook his head and opened the jar.

 

* * *

 

Over the library, Teresa was finishing putting the mountain ash over the threshold. She was kneeling in front of it, jar on her right hand. Once the black powder was no longer in the jar, she closed it with its lid and sighed, looking around the library. She had a bad feeling about this. What if this didn't work? What if they all get killed by the werewolf?

She stands up from her kneeling position, still immersed in her thoughts that she doesn't see the shadow approaching her from behind. She's about to turn around when she feels a hand on her shoulder, so she turns around and screams, taking a step back and covering her mouth.

She meets with Minho's laughing face; he was holding his stomach, Teresa noticed as she crossed her arms in front of her chest angry at him.

"Oh my god! You should've seen your expression!" just as he finishes saying that, a hand appears on his shoulder, making him scream louder than Teresa, _"AHH!"_ he puts a hand over his mouth, and turns to see Gally standing there,

"Like that?" asks Gally, a smirk on his face.

"Shut up."

The dirty blond trembles a little and Teresa takes a step forward to help him stand still. That's when she takes on his state: dried blood on his chin, a swollen area on his temple, the back of his shirt ripped by claws and by his breathing he was tired.

Minho takes air, "We thought you were dead."

He wipes the blood from his chin, "I'm not that easy to kill."

"Yeah, we can see that."

"Where are the others?" asks the dirty blond.

"We split up to cover the school with this." says Teresa holding up her empty jar.

"Mountain ash."

Minho nods at him. Teresa looks behind him, "Where's Aris? Isn't he with you?"

"What'd you mean?"

"You went through the main door to get in, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Aris was at the front door." answers the Asian male, "He was going to cover it."

Gally groans for a moment and then sighs, "Okay, new plan: get the hell out. We need to get back to the others. That thing is in here."

"We know! That's why the mountain ash!"

"That doesn't matter. The plan was to get its scent, but now that it appeared in here, what are we gonna do with it once Thomas has its scent? We can't keep it trapped in the school forever."

Minho glances at Teresa, "I never thought about that."

"Come on," says Gally, "We better get back to the others before-

He stops midway his sentence as he turns around, ready to make a run, when he sees a big dark shape at the end of the hall. It has glowing yellow eyes and is staring right at them. The werewolf.

"-something happens." he finishes.

The werewolf growls at them and starts walking towards them. Gally steps in front of Minho and Teresa,

"Step back!"

Gally holds his right arm to his side, hand wide open. Then, out of thin air, something big and metallic starts materializing in his empty hand: A sword. A massive weapon tall enough to rival Gally's height. Its blade was pale silver and the hilt was black; the blade itself was both wider and thicker than the grip. Clearly that thing requires both hands for any normal person to swing it. So anyone who swings around something so huge using only one hand is obviously not normal, and not someone to be trifled with.

Minho takes a step back, _"Whoa! Fu-"_

The dirty blond swings the sword to one side and yells,

"RUN!"

Minho grabs Teresa's hand as they flee, and Gally hears her as she snaps, _"I know how to run without you holding my hand!"_

He grins and watches the creature growl at him as it launches in the air at him, claws extended.

 

* * *

 

At the back door, Newt closed the jar as the mountain ash was already on the floor. Thomas was standing guard in case something happened, the blond kneeling beside him.

"That should do it." and stood up.

"What if the werewolf is already outside?" asks the brunet.

"Then we'll be protected; he can't enter this place."

Thomas takes a moment to process it. Something feels off. He looks around them and at the darkness.

"What if that's what he wants?" Newt turns to look at him, "Think about it. We are putting this in all the possible exits, which means if we all want to run away there's only one way out."

Newt stops to think about it. He looks at his side, licking his lips. His eyes widen at realization. Thomas nods,

"We'll be the ones trapped in here."

"We need to tell the others." says Newt.

Thomas nods again before he hears a noise. He looks around with wide eyes but can't see anything. That doesn't mean he can't hear it. _'What if it was the werewolf?'_

Quickly he grabs Newt's hand and gets them inside a classroom, closing the door behind them. He leans into the door as he looks at the blond,

"Stand back."

The Brit nods. Thomas presses his ear to the door to hear better. He could hear a heart- no, two heartbeats. Two? He blinks. _'What if it was Minho or someone else? What if it was the werewolf, though?'_ The heartbeats were loud; it must be because they were running to get here.

If Thomas opened the door and it was the werewolf and another creature, they would attack him and Newt. But if they were his friends and he didn't open it, they would get attack instead. He cursed under his breath. He was about to turn away from the door when the scent of freshly mown grass hit him. He frowns. _'I know that scent'_ , he thinks as he touches his dog tag behind his shirt.

Turning the knob around to open the door, he takes a step outside. He almost gets hit with a glass jar, breaking when it makes contact into the wall.

"Thomas!" yells Teresa as she sighs, having thrown her empty jar at him. Minho is also sighing in relief.

"I never thought I would be glad to see your ugly face again."

Newt comes out of the room, standing beside the brunet, "What happened?"

Minho is the first to speak, "Where's Aris?"

"He hasn't come back."

"And what about Gally?" asks the raven haired girl.

Thomas frowns, " _Wha-_ Gally?"

"Yeah, he's alive. He found us, but then the werewolf found us too, and he stayed to fight it as we ran."

Newt turns to look at the brunet, "Thomas, we need to find them."

Thomas nods. He knows that. But how are they going to find the other two when they can be anywhere and with a werewolf lose?

 

* * *

 

Turning the corner of one of the halls, Gally holds his sword up, looking around for any sign of the creature. There were none. He doesn't know if he should feel relieved or worry about that. _And what about the others? Where were they? Did they manage to escape? Were they still inside the building? Did Aris escape?_

Too many things to worry about right now. What he needed to do was avoid the werewolf and find the others, then get out.

Gripping his sword tighter, he takes a few steps into the hall, looking at every shadowed corner in case of movement. He wasn't sure if he could stand a battle with a werewolf he doesn't know. Sure, he has fought many battles with other creatures, including werewolves. But those he had known what he was dealing with. Right now, he didn't even knew where the hell-

His thoughts are stopped when he's being thrown at the lockers by an unknown force, his head colliding against the cold metal. As he tries to adjust his sight, he manages to see a big form a few feet away from him; it was standing in its back feet, had glowing eyes and was covered in fur.

Fuck.

Before he could even grab his sword, stand up and try to defend himself, the werewolf was in front of him, grabbing the dirty blond by the neck and holding him up. Gally tries to struggle to get free but the hand around his neck is getting tighter, cutting his oxygen off.

"Where is the other werewolf?" the werewolf's voice had growled.

Gally choked, "Like I know!"

"Listen, puny human! I know that the werewolf is still here and that you and your friends were trying to catch me!"

Gally didn't answered. They were still here. All of them. They still had a chance to get out safe and sound.

"Too bad the little wolf hasn't been trained yet, and he can't find me by scent. So I'll just spare you the inconvenience and go directly to him. Now tell me: Here is he?!" The dirty blond stood still, his mouth shut in a thin line and he was glaring at the creature in front of him. "So you're not gonna talk, huh? Fine by me. Any last words?"

_"Bite me."_

"Gladly."

He raises a clawed hand and is about to attack when a loud whistle is heard. Right at the other side of the hallway. He turns his head to that direction and sees Aris standing there; instantly he summons a fiery bow and arrow, pointing it at the werewolf,

"Get down!"

Gally headbutts the werewolf on the forehead, making him let go of the dirty blond just in time for Gally to roll on the floor away from him. On the other side of the hallway, Aris shoots the fiery arrow, hitting the werewolf square in the shoulder. The creature lets out a horrific scream/howl in pain, gripping his wounded shoulder. He growls and turns around, ready to attack but he doesn't see Aris. He looks down and Gally isn't there either. He growls in exasperation and starts running, trying to find the rest of the group.

 

* * *

 

Thomas, Newt, Minho and Teresa were walking to another classroom, getting inside it before drawing attention to themselves. Closing the door quietly, the brunet turns to his friends, letting out a sigh. They were at the Chem Lab.

"What do we do now?" asked Teresa.

"We still need to find Gally and Aris." answered Newt.

"How are we sure that they are still alive?"

Thomas turned to his best friend after he said that. That was true. _'What if the werewolf already got to them and they are dead? And if we go try to find them, aren't we exposing us to die too? But if we get out of here, and they were alive, aren't we letting them to die?'_ He passed a hand over his face, trying to calm himself.

They were all startled at hearing a noise coming from the hallway. Thomas stepped in front of his friend, arms raised at his side; protecting them. Have the werewolf finally found them?

He tried to catch its scent, but all he could smell was fear. Coming from the ones in the room. _'Damn it.'_ he shook his head and tried it again. He smelled... blood. Dried blood, actually. Also honey. _'Wait, honey?'_

He stepped closer to the door, feeling a hand over his arm, stopping him. He turned his head and found Newt staring back at him, eyes pleading him to be careful. He nodded at the silent plead and his arm was released. Grabbing the knob and hearing his friends' hearts go wild with fear and anticipation, he turned it, opening the door slowly. There was no one there. Thomas frowned and was about to say something when a bloodied hand appeared on the door frame, startling everyone, even the ones on the other side, who were Gally and Aris.

Minho putted a hand on his chest, "You guys are alive."

Gally glared at him, "I was gonna say the same about you." they entered the classroom and closed the door once more.

"Wh-what happened? Where's the werewolf?" asked Newt as he helped the lighter brunet to sit Gally on one of the stools.

"Who knows. It can be anywhere." answers the dirty blond, wincing at the end because of his sore body.

"We managed to distract him enough for us to escape. But now he must be mad."

"Great. As if we didn't had enough problems now." muttered the Asian male.

While he listened to them, the dirty blond's eyes fall on Aris' wrist and frowns, "Where's your cuff?"

Thomas takes the cuff from his pocket, "Oh, here. I think it's better if you keep it."

Gally grabs it, "Yeah," and he turns around and quickly grabs Aris' arm, wraps it around his wrist and turns to the front.

The lighter brunet grabs his cuffed wrist, "Whoa-what? Why-

Gally points at the door, "You must be completely deranged if you think I'm going to allow you to be pacing around so freely."

"You really think so lowly about me?"

"Yeah."

"Figures."

"Okay! Guys!" the other two turn to Thomas, "This is not the time, okay? What we need to do is get out of this classroom and find another way out."

"At the janitor's closet there's an air duct that conducts to the outside." says Teresa.

"So all we have to do is get to the janitor's closet." says Minho, then he nods, "Okay. Who is the first one to get out to the hall?"

Everyone stares at each other.

"That's what I thought. Any other brilliant idea?"

"No, Teresa is right." says Thomas. The girl turns to the Asian male and smirks, "We need to get there so we can all exit once and for all." he nods, more to himself, "I'll go first, so if the werewolf is there, I can lure him away from you, guys." not waiting for any answer, he goes to open the door.

Newt grabs his arm -for the second time- and tugs at him, "You can't go out there unarmed!"

Thomas looks around the room, trying to find something he can use. He sees a long wooden ruler leaning over the wall beside the board, so he grabs it. Once he holds it in his hand, he looks at his friends and finds them all staring at him.

He shrugs, "Well, it's better than nothing."

Minho rolls his eyes, "There's gotta be something else."

"There is."

They turn to look at Teresa, who is staring at something behind them. They turn and see the shelves with extensive array of products, bottles of all sizes.

Minho turns to look at her, "What are we gonna do? Throw acid on him?"

"No. Like a fire bomb." she nods at the shelves, "In there is everything you need to make a self-igniting molotov cocktail."

The Asian frowns, "Self-igniting-"

"-molotov cocktail."

Minho stops and looks at Thomas, "That could work."

Thomas looks at the rest, "Okay. This is the plan."

 

* * *

 

Taking careful steps as they walked through the halls and towards the janitor's closet, Thomas was looking around for anything unusual. He couldn't hear or smell anything. Once they were standing in front of the closet, Teresa went to open the door but it wouldn't open,

"It won't open."

"Let me try it." says Newt as the girl moves aside. He stands still for a moment, right hand a few centimeters away from the knob, before the knob glows and an mini explosion is heard. He steps aside and moves the door open,

"I gotta admit it. That was cool." says Minho. Thomas grins with proud, _'I know, right?'_

Newt smiles at him. They all enter the closet, finding mops, buckets, brooms, plastic bottles with different colors, etc.

Thomas stared up at the air vent. Air vents are often as not too small for your standard size human to get around in. Luckily for Thomas and his friends, this duct was big enough for someone to enter it. Thomas looked around for something they could use to reach the vent; he found a wooden box over the corner and grabbed it,

"Okay. Teresa, you go first. Then-"

An animalistic growl is heard through the empty halls, echoing 'till it reached where the gang was.

Thomas was the first to talk, "Now, guys. Go, go, go!"

Teresa climbed the wooden box as the others stood in front of the door, guarding it. She slipped her fingers through the cracks in the vent and tugged, opening it. With a little help from Minho, she managed to enter the vent.

The brunet boy turned to look at the end of the hall, where a silhouette was approaching.

"Min, you go next!"

The Asian male climbed next, crawling behind the raven girl as they made their way to the exit. Just as Gally went up, the werewolf had finally turned the corner, spotting the teenagers over the closet. Aris grabbed a mop as a weapon, since he had his cuff on again. The werewolf growled at them, eyes glowing in the dark.

Thomas turned to the other two, "Go, go!"

"Thomas, what are you gonna do?" asked the Brit.

"I'll buy us some time." and he stepped out of the closet. Aris turned to the vent and let go of the mop, sending the Brit blond a worried look.

Newt nodded and the lighter brunet gave him two laboratory flasks filled with a maroon liquid. He then went to the wooden box and climbed it, reaching for the vent. The Brit approached Thomas and stood behind him as they saw the werewolf crack his neck, turning to look at them before running. Right at their direction.

"You ready?"

"Yeah,"

Just as those words left his mouth, Newt threw as hard as he could his flask at the beast. Luckily for them the molotov ignites when it mixes with the contents of the bottle on impact. Just as the flasks breaks over the creature's fur, it ignites and the creature howls in pain. Thomas and Newt take that opportunity to make their way up and through the vent. Thomas helps the blond up, and before the werewolf can break from the flames, he throws the second flask and closes the door. He hears the creature's agonizing screams and then he climbs the vent.

He crawls as fast as he can, trying not to make too much noise in case the werewolf can hear him. He can't see Newt; he must be already outside. He feels relieved for a moment. Just a few more meters he can see the light of the night and the cold air. Finally he gets out of the vent, falling face first to the grass. Newt grabbed his arm and helped him stand on his feet before running towards the car that was waiting for them. They climbed and the dirty blond drove as fast as he could, getting them out of there.

 

* * *

 

The next day at school, Thomas walked towards the blond Brit who was closing his locker, books on his hands.

"Hey,"

Newt turned to look at him, "Hey. How did it go at your house?"

"They think Minho and I were doing a project at his home, and that I stayed the night."

"Yeah, my parents weren't home when I arrived, so I was pretty lucky."

They stay in silence for a couple of seconds, not really sure of what to say. Thomas is looking at his shoes when the other snaps him from his thoughts,

"They don't know what happened here."

Thomas looks up at him, "What?"

"Them." he says nodding at the students, "They just continue with their lives, not aware that there's something dangerous loose in the town."

Thomas stands firm, "That's why we are going to stop it before it hurts someone."

Newt looks back at him, staring at him after those words leave his lips. The tone in which he said it, it made the Brit feel safe and trust him.

He smiles, "Yes, you are." Thomas blinked in confusion, "Come on, let's go."

He started walking, waiting for the brunet to join him.  He did after a few seconds, and together they walked towards their classroom; the brunet helping the Brit to carry his books, even though they weren't that heavy. The blonde just chuckled and let him do it.

At the other side of the hall stood Gally and Aris, watching at the two teenagers enter their classroom.

"They look fine. Even after what happened." Gally said.

"Yeah..." answers Aris in a monotonous voice.

"We were lucky to get out of there alive."

"Yeah..."

The dirty blond frowns, "What are you thinking?"

"We might have fought that thing and get out alive, but the second time I'm not so sure about it. We don't know how does it look like in its human form, but it knows about us. All of us." he turns to look at him, "We need to find that werewolf."

Gally stares back at him for a moment and then looks at the front, putting his hands into his pockets,

"Before it finds us first."

A few meters away from them, a person is standing near the lockers, leaning against them while hearing their conversation. A wicked grin appeared on his face and at the same time his hands turn into ones with claws. He separates from the locker and starts walking back to his class, his eyes glowing yellow for a moment as he disappeared into the classroom.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to use the word "witch" to describe/refer to Aris and Newt 'cus I searched online and it says that "witch" can be used for both women and men, but it's usually used for women. If you think that sounds weird or something please tell me and I'll think about changing it.  
> If there's anything else (question or whatever), please don't be shy and tell me~  
> Until next Friday!


	3. Awakened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, well, I decided to upload the chapter today 'cus I'm going to be very busy this whole week and I won't be able to upload the chapter on Friday, so this will count as the chapter for Friday. This chapter is dedicated to runeswolves and NekoShiiro. Thank you both for the comments, and I'm so so glad you are really liking this story!  
> And without anything else to say, I'll let you enjoy the chapter~

When Thomas first woke up, he glanced at his digital alarm clock and groaned at the hour. **6:00 A.M**. Why was he waking up so early? Who put his alarm at that hour? Oh, wait. He did. Thomas sighed when he remembered that Aris had asked him to meet him early at school. Feeling still sleepy, the brunet sat on the edge of his bed, rubbing his eyes as he got used to being awake 30 minutes earlier.

No less than 5 minutes later he was ready, going downstairs and walking towards the door. He was about to touch the knob when he heard something -he still needed to get used to hearing and smelling things- and turned to the right, finding Mary and Vince standing there, looking at him,

"Whoa- hey."

Mary smiled at him, "Good morning, Thomas."

"Ready to go to school?" asked Vince, nodding at his backpack.

"Yeah, I was actually going to go early because of some homework I need to check with Minho and I was gonna eat something there before the bell rings."

The two adults just nod, but they stand in their place without moving at all. Just looking back at Thomas, who was wondering why they were acting like that. Before he could even formulate his question, Mary spoke first.

"Is there something you wanna tell us?"

Thomas stood still, heart beating fast. _'They know!'_ he inhaled deeply, _'No, wait. They couldn't. They are just talking about your odd behavior.'_

"Yeah. Actually, there's something."

Mary and Vince seemed surprised at that, like they weren't hopping for the brunet to tell them anything.

"I'm going to be staying late at Minho's house, you know, the project and all that. So, maybe I won't be returning at home some nights; I'll just stay at his home. If that's okay with you two."

They seemed to be thrown out of balance, not expecting that. "Yeah, yeah, sure. But only if his parents are okay with that."

Thomas nods, "Sure." he goes to turn the knob but again Mary speaks,

"So it's not about... you know..." _'Werewolves'_ being the missing word there.

"Wha- no. No, not at all."

"Oh," she nods, "Okay, then. Good luck at school."

"Thanks. Bye!" he opened the door and closed it behind him, running away from his house. The two adults stared at each other and said at the same time _"puberty"_.

 

* * *

 

Since it was still pretty early and the bus wasn't even near his house at the time he left, Thomas had to walk to school. I know; it sucks. It wasn't until he was a few meters away from school that it occurred to him that he could've asked Aris to pick him up. He groaned. Walking to the building, he saw a few people already there. Over the entrance he saw Aris with his hands in his pockets, looking at the nothing until he approached him.

"Hey,"

The lighter brunet turned to him, "Hey. You made it." both entered school.

"So... What was it that you wanted me to be early?"

Looking around to make sure no one was looking at them, he took his hand out of his pocket, "Here; you'll have to be careful with it," he said as he gave him the still glowing amulet.

"Why are you giving it to me?"

"In case you are near the werewolf and I'm not around. It's practical."

"Oh. Okay, then." he puts the amulet in his pocket, "Was that all?"

"Not exactly." they walked to Aris' locker, "Even though we have the amulet, you still need to learn how to use your powers."

"My powers?"

Aris opens his locker, "Your hearing, your sight, your smell, everything."

Thomas sighs, "I know." he leans on the lockers, beside Aris' open door, "It's just that... I don't know… I feel _weird_. What am I supposed to do?"

"Maybe you should talk to your guardians. They might be waiting for you to come to them."

"Yeah, I think you are right."

Aris snorts, "I'm always right."

Thomas waits for a comment from Gally but he hears none. Then he notices that the dirty blond isn't there with them. "Hey, now that I notice, where's Gally? Isn't he supposed to be glued to you"

Aris closes his locker, books in his hands, and turns around, "Aha,"

"Does he know you are here?" he asks once the other starts walking away.

Aris sends him a playful smile and Thomas shakes his head, chuckling. Someone was gonna get murdered before school ends.

 

* * *

 

Newt was walking through the hall, books and some notes on his arms. He had a blue book at the top of them and was reading it, looking at what the content said. He was reading his spellbook. Specially the part where 'protection spells' charms appeared. He began biting his lip, not understanding one part of the spell. Maybe he could ask his nana about it later. He was too immersed in his thoughts that unfortunately he didn't saw the person walking to him. Not after he collides with them, making that person drop their books and notes, together with Newt's.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" says a male voice.

"No, it was my fault. I wasn't seeing where I was walking-

He immediately feels his cheeks heat as he kneels to the floor and starts picking up the notes. The other person kneels too. When that person is at his same height, he looks up and sees a guy with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, dressed in white polo shirt and jeans picking up Newt's books.

"I'm sorry. Really."

The guy chuckles, "Okay, so it's both our faults. Deal?" he asks with a smile.

Newt smiles back and nods, "Deal."

They both stand up, the other guy holding Newt's books, and stare at each other.

Newt shakes his head, "Sorry, I didn't hear your name."

"Cole."

"I'm Newt."

The guy smiles, "Nice to meet you, Newt. Where's your next class?"

"Uh, Biology, why?"

Cole holds the books tighter, "Well, then. I'll accompany you."

"It's not necessary-

"Please, the least I could do is walk you to your class."

Newt hesitates for a moment, but he shakes it off and nods, "Okay."

They begin walking together towards the blond's class. They start chatting about classes and school stuff.

Cole was the one talking, "So if you really want to learn Math go to the Chemistry teacher. He really knows how to explain them."

"And one would think that you'll have to go to the Maths teacher if you wanted to learn math."

Cole chuckles, "Yeah. I like Chemistry more than Math. Sit at the front of the class and you'll get the teacher's complete attention if you don't understand something."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks."

They arrive at the classroom, standing right outside of the door. Cole stretches his hand to give the blond his books back,

"Well, I guess I'll see you then."

Newt smiles and turns to enter his classroom, glancing back one last time to wave at the dark brunet guy before taking seat. Cole grinned and turned around, walking to his own class calmly. Just when he's out of the class' radar, he takes out Newt's spellbook from behind his back,

"I'll be seeing you around, little witch."

 

* * *

 

When the bell rang to point that the class had ended, Thomas exited his classroom and went back to his locker. He had left his book in there and had to go back for it before the bell rang again. He was walking normally through the hallway when a noise caught his attention. He stopped; he heard a heart beating fast.

_Newt's heart._

Without any doubt, he started running towards that direction. He could smell the anxiety coming from the blond and he ran faster. As he turned the corner he saw Newt pacing around and Aris talking to him. They both looked nervous.

"Just calm down, alright?" Aris said to the blond, just as Thomas reached them.

"What is it? Is everything okay?" asked the brunet, looking between the blond and Aris.

Aris looked at Newt, then nodded at the brunet's way, as if telling him to tell Thomas about it. Newt sighed and turned to him,

"I can't find my spellbook."

"...Okay. W-where did you leave it?"

"I didn't left it anywhere! I-I was... I had it before entering Biology and- that's it."

"You sure you didn't leave it at your locker?"

Newt sent him a look as if saying _'are you an idiot?!'_ "Of course I check there. That was the first place I checked! This is serious, Thomas."

"Hey, calm down, okay? You don't have to go mad about some book."

Aris closed his eyes and face palmed himself. Newt's eyes widen at his words,

"Wha-wha- _'some book'_? _'Some book'_?!" he laughed, "That's what you think it is? Just _'some book'_?!" he sighed, looking at his left, "Really, Thomas, sometimes you can be a complete ass." and with that he pushed past Thomas and walked through the hallways with angry steps.

As he walked away, Thomas could hear him muttering something between the lines of _'bloody werewolf'_ and _'who he thinks he is?'_

"Wow." he heard Aris say behind him, "Okay. For future references: You may not know many things about all of these. Werewolves, magic, and so. But to witches, wizards, or whatever you want to call us, spellbooks are important. They are an extension of our body. We mostly depend on them." he takes a step closer, "You just offended Newt's whole being."

Thomas stared at the hall where Newt had disappeared and groaned. _Perfect. Just perfect!_

"I-I didn't knew that!"

"You better go and do something about it."

Thomas didn't lose time arguing with him; he just took air and walk across the hall, passing beside Gally as he did so. The dirty blond glanced at him with confusion and then stopped beside Aris,

"What's with him?" he asks.

"He's suffering the lovely and angsty life of a teenager in love. I've seen that."

"Aha."

"No, seriously! It happened to a friend."

Gally gives him a look, "You don't have any friends."

Aris pouts and crosses his arms over his chest, "Then what are we?"

"Married couple that hates each other."

Back to Thomas, as he walked he rehearsed what he was going to say to the Brit. _'I'm sorry, I didn't knew it meant that much to you.'_? Naah. _'Sorry, I don't know that much about magic. Maybe you can teach me?'_ Thomas shakes his head, _'No, he'll probably slap me across the face. Ughh!'_  he sighed, _'Maybe a traditional apology will be enough.'_ He turned around the corner as he was ready to apology to the Brit the second he saw him. Then he saw it.

A dark brunet guy hovering over Newt, who was sitting on the floor with his back resting on the lockers. It may have looked like the taller guy was harassing the blond, but the problem was that both were smiling. At each other. And then the guy said something that made the blond laugh, hugging a book to his chest. Thomas felt a growl on his chest. But not because he was talking to Newt -well, maybe a little. Something about that guy felt off. The guy waved at Newt and then turned around to leave. Thomas made his way to the blond, completely forgetting his apology.

"What did that guy wanted?" he demanded.

Newt frowns at him for a moment. Then he shows him a blue book with golden tones: his spellbook.

"He said he picked it up and didn't notice until he was at his class."

"Wha- when, when did he pick it up?"

"Today at first period. He walked me to class after we bumped into each other. Why-

"Stay here." Newt gave him a confused look, "Wait a moment here, okay?"

With that he turned around and started following the way the guy had left. He tried to get his scent but there were many students at the halls. He pushed against people and saw way ahead him a guy with a white shirt and dark hair. It was him! Growling, he made his way towards him. The guy continued to walk, as he didn't knew he was followed by a jealous and confused werewolf. Thomas was now a few steps away from him, but he didn't know his name to call for him. Even if he did knew, what was he gonna do? He was just returning Newt his book. _'And making Newt smile and laugh after you made him angry.'_ his mind supplied. He shook his head and continued, stretching his arm to the guy. Just as he was about to reach the guy, he bumped into another person, making the fall to the ground.

"Hey! Watch it!"

"Sorry, I was-

He stopped his apologize as soon as he saw the other person: Matthew. He felt a growl coming from his throat.

"Oh, but of fucking course it had to be you, Hawthorne."

"It isn't pleasant to see you face either, Matthew." Thomas said as he dusts off his pants. He looks around and doesn't see the guy. _'Damn it, I lost him!'_

"What do we have here?" he hears Matthew say as he stands up. Thomas stands up and sees that he was holding the glowing amulet, "I didn't classify you as one to wear jewelry, Hawthorne."

"Give it back."

Matthew chuckles, "I'm sorry, what? Why should I do that?" he looks at the amulet, "In fact, why do you have this? Is this yours or your girlfriends'?" he chuckles, "I mean, I know it's not your mom's because you don't have one but-

Thomas had to make his hand a fist, clawing at his flesh so he wouldn't punch the guy in front of him. He could feel blood coming out of the wound. People were standing around them.

"Give it back."

"Okay." he stretched his hand out and as Thomas made a move to grab it, his hand retracted far away. "Too slow, Hawthorne." he and his friends laughed. Thomas heard the whispers around them and some chuckling. Okay, that's enough.

Just as Matthew has his head turned to his friends, a grin on his face, Thomas takes two steps forward and his fist connects with the other's nose, sending him to the ground together with the amulet.

"The fuck Hawthorne?!" Matthew held his bloody nose.

Thomas ignored it and went to pick the amulet that had been thrown away at the punch. Just as he kneeled to take it, he heard a heart beating fast and the smell of someone angry. He managed to avoid the hit that was coming to his back, standing aside as Matthew lunged at him.

He wasn't prepared to be tackled at the floor, the amulet away from his grasp again. He groaned at the impact but managed to pull Matthew away from him, hitting him in the stomach. Matthew grabbed his stomach in pain. Out of the corner of his eyes, Thomas saw Teresa, Aris and Minho standing between the students who were cheering at them. _'The amulet!'_ he remembered as he turned around but the other guy already had it, holding it to taunt him,

"Give it back!"

"You'll have to take it from my hands!"

As they were very much into the fight they didn't noticed that some of the students were running away from there. Not until Thomas had managed to take back the amulet and separate from Matthew.

_"WHAT IS GOING ON?!"_

He stopped and turned his head to the right to see a teacher walking towards them; Thomas' and Matthew's friends were still there.

"Hawthorne! Coleman! Why does it always have to be you two?" his eyes fall on the still glowing amulet on Thomas' hand, "Alright! Everyone go away! Hawthorne, give me that thing now."

Thomas' eyes widen at those words. They couldn't lose the amulet. That's why Aris had given it to him! So they could find the werewolf! Now how were they gonna find him?

"But-

"I said now!"

Thomas holds his hand to the teacher and let go of the amulet; the teacher putting it inside his pocket before turning around and leaving to his classroom. Matthew went to his friends and they left too. Thomas groans as he turns to his friends,

"I'm so sorry! I-I wasn't expecting-

Teresa puts a hand over his arm, "It's fine; we get it."

"But now we don't know how to find the werewolf without it."

Aris looks at him, "We need to get that amulet back if we want to find that werewolf."

Minho points at the direction the teacher left, "How do you suggest we do it? We can't just ask the teacher to return it to us."

Aris turned to look at him with a smirk on his face, "Who said we were gonna get it the legal way?"

 

* * *

 

"I hate coming to school at night! It's already bad enough that we have to spend half day there, but now at night too?"

"Shut it, Minho!"

The gang was standing behind the building, looking for a way to get into the school without breaking anything. The back door was closed, and every window were too.

"How about we break a window and-

"Not breaking anything, Aris."

"Gally's right," Teresa said, "If someone walks by and sees a window broken and movement inside, they'll call the police."

"So how you suppose we're going to get in to get back the amulet?" Minho asked.

"What about that?" she asks pointing at an air duct.

Minho shakes his head, "None of us can fit through there. Only a small animal can."

They all stop and think the same thing. At the same time, they turn to look at Aris, who notices them looking at him and he sighs, understanding their plan,

"Fantastic."

 

* * *

 

Inside the building was all in silence, which was perfect as a shadow made its way to the principal door. The black cat merged into the darkness of the hallways and its paws were almost inaudible, each step getting the cat closer to the door.

Once the animal is standing in front of the main door, it purrs and waits for a signal. A knock on the metal door was his answer. The cat manages to unlock the door and step aside to let the gang enter. The door opens seconds later and they all enter, closing slowly behind them.

"Nicely done, dude." says Minho to the black cat as it enters an empty classroom.

Gally approaches the classroom with a bundle of clothes under his armpit and puts the bracelet on the floor. Turning his back to the room to give the other privacy, Thomas hears the sound of the animal transforming back into human.

Still looking at the front, the dirty blond stretches a hand back into the room,

"Here's your clothes."

_"Thanks."_

As Aris dresses, they start formulating the plan.

Teresa looks around, "Now what?"

"Now we go to Mr. Dryden's classroom, open his desk, get the amulet, get out!" says Minho.

"Why does it sounds so simple but something tells me it's more complex than it sounds?" asks Thomas to his friend. Aris comes from behind them, fully dressed.

"Because it is! Now move it!"

The gang starts walking towards the classroom through the hallway, looking around to make sure that there's no one else there. Once they're near the classroom, they stop in front of the door and Minho grabs the knob,

"Come on,"

He turns it around and it opens. They make their way into the classroom and close the door behind them. As the rest watch the door in case someone came, Minho and Aris approached the table. The Asian male goes to open the first draw but finds it ajar.

He frowns, "How weird."

Aris looks at him, "What is it?"

"The drawers are usually under key so no student can open them during class. But," he gently pulls open the drawer, "This one is already open."

"Maybe the teacher forgot to close it?" he looks into the drawer and nothing. Just some papers and pencils.

Minho opens the next one and it's totally empty. "It's not here."

Gally turns to look at him, "What do you mean _'it's not here'_?" and he approaches the desk. Teresa and Thomas follow.

"How come it's not here?! You said to Mr. Dryden's classroom!" says Teresa.

"He must have taken it."

"Fantastic. Just fantastic!"

As they start arguing about it, Thomas catches a faint smell. He frowns and goes around the desk, where the second drawer is. He kneels at its side and inhales. Teresa watches as he does that.

"Thomas?"

That catches everyone's attention, so they turn to look at the brunet kneeled beside the desk, looking inside the drawer.

"Thomas, are you okay?" asks Minho.

Thomas inhales one more time and he stands up, quickly going to the door and opening it.

"Thomas, wha-

He exits the classroom and follows the scent. He knows this scent; he has smelled it before. His friends start following after him, sending confused glances at each other as the brunet runs through the halls. Thomas arrives at the lockers and looks at them, trying to figure out where did that scent came from. His head snaps at the left and he follows that direction, stopping in front of one locker, eyes glued to it. The gang stops a few steps away from him,

Minho takes a step forward, "Thomas. What is it?"

It takes a few seconds, but Thomas turns around to face them,

"I got his scent."

 

* * *

 

The next day was sunny, much different at the last day that seemed like it was gonna freaking snow. Back at school, to be more precise at the cafeteria, Cole was sitting in a table by himself, food tray on one side as he read a book. Even if his eyes were glued at the pages of his book, he smirked when he felt a certain presence walking into the cafeteria, right at him. Moments later a figure appeared in front of him.

"I know it's you."

Cole puts his book down, looking up at Thomas glaring at him, "You know I'm what?"

"You know."

"I really don't know what you are talking about." the other boy smirks, the fucker.

Thomas hits the table with his palm, eyes glowing yellow for a moment, "Stop playing games!"

Cole only smirked more, eyes glowing yellow too. "Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do about it?"

Thomas girthed his teeth, feeling his fangs coming out and as he opened his mouth to retort, the sound of someone coughing to have attention interrupted him. He turned his head to the entrance of the cafeteria, where a teacher stood.

"I want everyone's attention, please."

Thomas quickly turned back at Cole but found the seat empty. He looked around. _'Where the hell is he?'_

"Concerning the incidents that seem to happen at night at school, we were pushed to take actions."

All students were whispering between them, not knowing what was going on.

"We've installed a new security system. As you may all notice, there are cameras on every corner,"

Thomas -as well as everyone else- turned around and looked at the black cameras at the walls. Shit.

"If this incidents are still happening even after there are cameras-

Thomas stopped listening. Shit. This was it; they lose. They couldn't get into school with cameras looking at everything. They would be recognized. Not only they would be recognized as them, but as a werewolf and sorcerers. Great.

He walked back to where his friends were, standing near the door as the teacher continued talking.

"We aren't gonna be able to get in if there are cameras." Minho said.

"Yeah, but that means that Cole won't be able to come back here either." Thomas said. A good thing after all.

"At least we know who the werewolf is." the raven girl nodded at Gally.

"Yeah. Next stop, what does he want?"

"I don't know." Aris said, "But it won't be any good."

 

* * *

 

After lunch, Thomas didn't saw nor smelled Cole anywhere at school. _'Maybe he left.'_ He was coming out of his class when he smelled honey; he turned around and saw Aris walk towards him.

"Have you seen Newt?"

Thomas frowns, "No. I thought he had class with you?"

"Yeah, after lunch, but I haven't seen him since then." he licks his lips, "I thought he felt sick but he wasn't with the nurse."

Thomas felt ice on his veins. Now that he thinks about it, he hasn't seen Newt either. And he wasn't worried about because the blond had classes with Aris, but he hasn't seen him either. Walking -or jogging- towards the lockers, Thomas tried to use his nose to catch his scent. Any faint scent of him. He was breathing hard as he ran through the hall, the lighter brunet following him. Then he saw something on the floor, leaning against the lockers. He and Aris ran towards it; a blue book, right in front of Newt's locker.

His spellbook.

"He has Newt."

 

* * *

 

The school was almost empty -20 minutes after the bell rang. Gally, Aris, Teresa, Minho and Thomas stood by the dirty blond's truck, looking as everyone leaved in the school bus or in their own cars.

"We can't stay here, standing alone while everyone leaves, you know?" Aris asks to Thomas without looking at him. "We'll look suspicious."

"I know."

"But you still want to enter the school at night."

"Yeah."

"What are you looking for?"

"Maybe there's a clue at his locker."

Aris sighs, "But we can't open his locker right now. Not when everyone is leaving and that's obviously not our locker."

"Plus we aren't gonna be able to get in if there are cameras." Teresa said.

Minho shrugged, "We could use masks."

"Oh, yeah. That makes it look less criminal."

"We have to do something. He has Newt." Thomas said as he looked at the people laughing and getting into their cars.

"We will. But we have to wait until this place is empty." says Aris as he turns around, "Get in the car. We need to act as if we were leaving like any other day. Go to your house and make an alibi. When the sun is down, get out of your house and we'll come for you. We'll wait 15 minutes and then we get into the school."

The rest of them got into the car and Gally drove away, taking everyone to their houses -except for Minho, who went to Thomas' house. When the dark of the night covered the sky, they came back for them and they parked the truck not too far away from the building.

 

* * *

 

A few streets away from school there was an empty, gloomy house. It looked like a Victorian house; the covered in black windows, the death garden, and the missing roof tiles made it look scarier than it was. Over the basement, the sound of footsteps could be heard as you went down the stairs. The basement was almost empty, just a few boxes and wooden drawers; together with a light bulb that illuminated the whole room.

Newt was sitting on the floor, legs brought to his chest, chained -by his wrists- against the wall, though the chains were long enough that he could move his arms to his front. The light in the room made him look pale. He was looking carefully at the dark haired guy pacing around the room, hands in his pockets. _'He is waiting.'_ thought Newt. But what for, he didn't know. The guy stopped a few steps away from the blond.

"You are too quiet, you know? Shouldn't you be screaming for help? Screaming for your friends to save you." the blond continued to stare at him. Cole walked towards him, kneeling in front of him, "Sorry it had to go this way. Such a shame." he grabs Newt by his chin, making him look at him, faces only inches away, "We could've been a pretty good pair, don't you think?"

Newt spat at him, landing on his right eye. Cole took a step back, wiping his eye and glaring at the blond. He lunged at him and covered his mouth,

"A simple _'no'_ would've been enough." he grinned and let go, stepping aside. Newt began coughing,

"What do you want?" he finally asked.

"The werewolf who hangs out with you, of course."

"Why?"

"Curious, aren't we?" he grins, "My answer is simple: Power." he straightens himself, pacing around once more, "As of today I've killed three mermaids, three witches and two werewolves. As you've seen, I need another werewolf to complete the circle."

"Why do you need three of them? Wha-what does it mean?"

"Poor novice witch. You don't have any idea, do you?" he chuckles, "But since I'm such a benevolent person, I'll tell you." he starts pacing around, head tall as he explains, "You know that when you make a spell, you need the ingredients the spellbook asks for, right? This is a spell which requires certain objects. So... I need another werewolf to succeed. And I'm afraid that Thomas is the only one around."

Newt turns his head away, not meeting the other's eyes as he laughs. He hears his steps going to the other side of the room and sighs. He looks at the front again; his eyes travel along the bookshelves and at the various jars with different colors. They had labels but it was written in another language.

"Oh, that?"

Newt looks back at him, having been caught staring at the jars. Cole grins and points at the ones in the middle,

"I caught those two years ago. I bought the others from someone. They were a little expensive but it was worth it. They can be of use to me in another moment. But for this spell I don't need them." he walked towards his backpack lying on the floor. He picked it up and opened it; taking out a big, brown book. He put the book on top of one of the drawers and stood before it, opening it.

As he did that, Newt looked around, trying to find a way out. But who he was kidding? He wouldn't be able to get out chained to the wall. And the cuffs seemed to be made of something that counteracts magic, so he couldn't use a spell. Part of him was praying for Thomas and the rest to come and rescue him, but if he was sincere? Part of him didn't wanted them to come. Cole was going to kill them. He was going to kill Thomas; the rest would be a collateral damage. Maybe if he was lucky, the others wouldn't notice his absence and come.

He shook his head. _'No. They will notice, and they will come for me. All I have to do is to gain some time.'_ he bit his lip as he saw the back of the werewolf. He needed to keep Cole occupied with something, while the gang came for him. Something in his mind lightened up like a Christmas tree.

Cole was turning around the pages of the book in front of him when a voice brought him out of his reading,

"Why did the Fury was looking for you?"

Cole stops and turns to look at the blond, who was staring right at him, waiting for an answer. Cole wiped his hand in his jeans and smirked,

"The parents of one of the mermaids I killed wanted revenge. So they hired the Fury to find me and suck my soul out."

"Suck your soul?"

"Just like with a milkshake." he was still smirking. "It was a good thing that they didn't show her a picture of me; they just told her to find a werewolf in this town."

Something in Newt's mind made click.

"That's why she went after Thomas. She was looking for a werewolf, but she didn't knew that there were two at school. Since he was a new werewolf she picked his scent quick."

"Seems like he has bad luck." he turns around and walks to the jars.

Newt bite his lip; he had to try something else. "You still can stop this. If you let me go and don't try to attack Thomas, they might let you alive." Cole turn his back to him, "You can show them you aren't a monster!"

Cole stays still, not moving a single muscle. A chuckle escapes his mouth, closing his eyes and slowly shaking his head. "You don't know anything." he turns to face Newt, a grin on his face, "Those werewolves I talked about." his grins only grows bigger, "They were my parents."

Newt feels like throwing up, "You are sick."

"Some people might call it that. I call it an unfortunate, but necessary sacrifice."

"Why do you want power, anyway? Isn't being a werewolf powerful enough?!"

Cole smirks at him and walks towards him, kneeling before Newt, "Let me tell you a story."

 

* * *

 

Outside of the house, Thomas and the gang arrive, stopping a few meters away from it in case Cole catches their scents. They hide in the nearest bushes, looking at the gloomy house.

"This has to be his house. It stinks of him." says Thomas.

Minho nods, "Okay... Then, what now?"

"We get inside as careful as we can be, and find Newt."

Minho frowned and spoke, "How we know that he is not waiting for us inside? That this is exactly what he wants?"

"Well, I'm not taking any chances."

"Yeah, because you have freaking claws! If you haven't notice, this little group has two weak, defenseless humans."

Teresa piped in, "Um, what do you mean with _'two weak, defenseless humans'_?"

"Okay, you're right. This little group has Teresa!"

The raven girl glares at him, "For your information, I can take care of myself."

Minho snorts, "Yeah? I dare you to go there and take down that werewolf by yourself!"

"Oh, you're scared? Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"You wish."

"You hope."

"Okay, okay!" Aris stepped in, "We can discuss sexism in survival situations when we get back. Now we have to get Newt."

"He's right." Thomas said, "We need to stop Cole and save Newt. I-I know I shouldn't ask you guys for this... to risk your lives. But our friend needs us now. So, who's in?"

Minho, Teresa, Gally and Aris nodded at him, staring back at the brunet werewolf. Thomas nodded too and they started with their plan.

 

* * *

 

Back at the basement, Newt continued to stare at Cole as the dark brunet pace around the room, like he was waiting something. He stopped in his tracks and stood straight. Turning to look at Newt, he showed him a toothy grin and walked towards him. He kneels a few steps away from him,

"Don't be sad, love. I still want to spend some quality time with you." Newt really wanted to hit him in the face, "But right now, I'll have to take care of some business." he grins wickedly.

Inside the house, going towards the stairs of the basement, Thomas and the gang were carefully approaching their destination. Going down the stairs without any noise, Thomas was thankful that there was no door so it was easier to get in without alerting Cole. The gang stood outside while Thomas entered the basement, looking around the room. He found the blond witch chained to the wall, looking at his lap. Relief washed over him as he took steps forward,

"Newt!"

The blond raised his head and fought against his chains. "Behind you! It's a trap!"

Before Thomas could react, he was being hit with a large piece of wood on the back, making him go down the floor. A groan escaped from his mouth, looking up at Cole as he swung the wood with a grin.

"Hey, there. Ready to rumble?"

He went to hit him again, but this time Thomas was ready. He rolled away in time to avoid the hit; still on the floor, he used his leg to swat the dark brunet werewolf over the floor and then pinned him.

The gang entered the basement, looking wildly around the room and at the fight.

Thomas raised his head at them, "Go get Newt!"

The gang nods and runs towards the blond, only Aris staying back to help Thomas. Once standing before Newt, Minho takes a hold of the shackles and shakes them, trying to separate them from the wall. When he can't, he tries to force the lock on the wrists with no avail.

"It won't open!"

"Try it again!" yells Teresa, looking behind their backs at the fight.

Cole threw Thomas onto his back, standing on his feet and taking a step forward but then a green flame hit him in the cheek, a cut appeared on his skin and blood poured from it. Angrily he turned to look at Aris a few feet away from them.

"You little witch!"

"You have no idea." he raised his hand and with the flick of his wrist, another green flame hit him in the face, making him take a step back.

While Cole defended himself from Aris' attacks, Minho continued trying to open the lock.

Teresa puts a strand of hair behind her ear, "Come on! Quick!"

"Wait, wait, wait! I got it!" he picks a rock from beside Newt and starts hitting the metal, each time harder.

Gally rolls his eyes and invokes one of his swords, making Minho take a step back and with a single swing the chains were broken. The impact also made them open, falling from Newt's wrists.

Minho looked at the dirty blond, "Yeah, I loosen the chain!"

Gally looks at the side when his eyes widen and pulls Teresa down with the others just as a green flame went directly at them. He stands back and barks at the brunet sorcerer,

"Watch out, would you?!"

Aris faces him, "You wanna come here and do it yourself?!"

Cole took the advantage of Aris being distracted, so he threw the wooden plank at him, hitting him in the head and knocking him to the ground. He walked towards the unconscious brunet,

"Say goodnight, little witch."

And flexed his claws, ready to rip his throat out when a whistle made him turn around just as a hook to his stomach is delivered, making him fall to the floor, holding at his stomach.

Teresa stands there, retreating her arm back. She looks like she didn't knew why -or how- she did that. Cole looks up at her and his eyes shine yellow, snarling at her,

_"Bitch!"_

As he flings to the raven girl, she kneels to cover herself at the same time the Asian male runs towards Cole to tackle him to the ground. They both groan and Cole attempts to get up, but Minho doesn't let him, pinning him to the floor.

_"GEY OFF OF ME, YA FLIFTHY HUMAN!"_

Just as that happened, Newt ran towards Thomas, who was still over the floor, trying to recover his breath. That last blow took almost all of his air out. The blond witch kneeled beside him, putting a hand over his back.

"You're okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I think so." Thomas coughed, "You?"

Newt nods. Seconds later while Thomas shakes his head to dust it off, the blond speaks again. "You came back for me."

They stare at each other but their moment doesn't last longer as they hear Minho yell and turn their heads in time to see the Asian male being throw at the other side of the room, falling over the table with a groan. Gally took out his big sword and swung it.

Teresa was kneeling at the farthest corner with Aris, his head resting over her lap as she observed the fight. Slowly, the young witch started opening his eyes.

The raven girl looked down at him, "Hey, you're okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just a little bump." he blinked a few times.

As his sight settles down, he manages to see the shelves behind him and Teresa. He sits back up, and Aris' eyes fall over the jars with different ingredients and an idea comes to his mind. He turns to Teresa,

"Teresa, I need you to help me."

Cole starts slashing at the wind, not being capable of touching Gally as the dirty blond gave steps backwards. Minho throws stones at him from the sides, making the werewolf angrier than before. He goes to launch over the Asian male, but Thomas interferes at the last second and pushes at him, protecting his friend. Cole falls backwards, groaning as he does so.

Gally turns around and sees Aris on the floor, drawing something as Teresa gave him some jars.

"This is not the time for this!" he yells at the lighter brunet.

"Yes, it is! I know what do to, just... I need you to keep him occupied while I do the spell!"

Gally holds his arms open, frowning at the brunet, "Can't you see I'm doing that?!"

Suddenly, Cole stands up and hits him in the head, throwing him to the ground. While he and Gally starts throwing punches at each other, Newt runs towards Aris and Teresa,

He looks at the floor and at the jars, "What are you doing?"

"An enclosure spell. I just need something were we can trap him."

Newt looks around the room and he finds a jar over the floor a few meters away from them. He points at it, "Teresa, pass me that empty jar."

"Yes." she turns around and grabs the jar, "Here."

"Thanks." he gives it to Aris.

"This can work. Okay, now I'm gonna need your help to open it."

Newt blinks a few times, "Wha- I can't do it."

"Yes you can. You're a witch, remember?"

"Yes, but I have the basic level. I won't be able to perform an enclosure spell and-

Aris puts his hands over the blond's shoulders, making him look at him, "Okay, listen to me! You can do it! Right now we all depend on you! Not me, not Gally. You. And we know you can do it."

Newt stares at him before he nods, "Okay."

Cole and Thomas were fighting each other, slashing at their clothes, arms and torso; anything their claws could reach. Grabbing at Thomas' arms, the twisted them hard, making the brunet growl, eyes shining yellow. Thomas used the part that Cole was holding him by the arms to propel himself with his feet and kick him in the stomach, separating them, both falling to the ground. Cole hit his head, while Thomas fell on his back with a groan. The cat's eye is thrown out of his pocket and onto the ground, laying a few meters away from him.

Coughing, the dark brunet werewolf managed to stand up on his feet and look at Thomas over the floor.

Feeling something slice across his arm and letting a howl out, Cole turns to face Gally with his sword on hand. As he goes to raise it and slice at him again, the dark brunet werewolf claws at his arm. His sword is thrown away from his hand, his free hand going to cover the wound were blood was pouring. Unfortunately, Cole took the chance and soon was in front of him, hands over his shoulders, but Gally thinks faster and grabbing Cole's face in his hands, he headbutts him hard with his forehead; even a 'crack' is heard.

Cole takes a step back, holding his wounded forehead and staring with wide eyes at the still standing on his foot Gally.

"What the hell- how come you didn't broke your skull?!"

"Who said I didn't?" Gally said with a bloody grin.

Over the corner, Aris finished with the spell and stood up together with Teresa. He turned to the raven girl,

"We need to distract him for a few seconds while Newt recites the spell, so Cole doesn't escape."

"Okay. But how do we do that?"

Aris sighs and shakes his head, not knowing what to say. He looks around the room and his eyes fall on the bookshelves with some jars with labels on another language. His eyes shine. He and Teresa run towards it, standing at each side of it and their palms against the wood.

"On the count to three, we push as hard as we can, okay?" the raven girl nods, "One... Two... Three!" and they start pushing.

Minho throws all he can find on the floor -stones, wood, wooden boxes- at Cole, which he easily hits them with his forearm. Hearing a screeching noise, makes him turn his head to the corner of one of the shelves and watching the lighter brunet guy and raven girl pushing at the bookshelf forward, the wood trembling.

_"NO!"_

Aris and Teresa finish pushing the bookshelf and it falls down, all the jars crashing and breaking into pieces. What is strange is that different colors start escaping from the broken pieces, going around the room before exiting through the walls. They all stare at it, including Cole.

Cole turns to them with the mouth open, fangs glowing with spit, "You don't have any idea of what you've done!"

_"Yes, they do!"_

Cole turns around and sees Newt smirking at him, an empty jar in front of him over the floor. Before he can identify what does it means, that section of ground start glowing as Newt runs far from there. Cole sees as the spell starts working, the faint wind blowing everything in that room and then, it starts. The jar start trembling and the werewolf feels as he's being dragged by the spell.

"Quick! Hold on onto something!" yells Aris.

Thomas and Newt hold onto the chains where the blond had been chained, the brunet putting an arm around the blond's waist. Gally invokes his sword and impales it over the ground, letting Teresa and Minho hold onto it. Aris puts his arms around the dirty blond's neck while he grabs the sword. Cole tries to run but the current is getting stronger. He falls onto the ground and claws at the ground, trying to avoid being sucked into the jar. The gang's legs are not longer touching the ground; instead they are floating as the currents sucks everything in the room, including the boxes, the bookshelves and drawers, and the pieces of broken glass.

Some of Cole's claws break and has him growling. Before he can notice, his hands give up and he's being dragged into the jar, yelling as it happens. But once he's sucked into the spell, it doesn't stops. It continues and the gang doesn't know why.

"Why won't it close?!" yells loudly Minho at Aris.

Aris faces him, "We need to throw something that has a magical quality into the spell!"

Thomas blinks for a moment. Magical quality. "Magical quality." he says to himself.

Thomas turns his head to the cat's eyes still on the floor - _how come it hadn't been sucked in?_ \- and his brains makes a click. Letting go of the chains, he throws himself at the floor, grabbing it in one hand as he starts getting sucked.

 _"Thomas!"_ yells Newt, catching everyone's attention.

 _"Thomas!"_ yells his best friend.

He hears his friends calling for him as he is sucked closer to the jar. He turns his torso and is soon lying on his back, facing the jar a few meters away from him. He raises his arm and throws the cat's eye into the spell. The jar starts trembling and a white blinding light comes from it, making everyone close their eyes. Thomas is still getting dragged but before he gets sucked, the jar stops trembling, and the light disappears and so does the current.

Thomas stops a few centimeters away from the jar, and he exhales in relief. The gang let go of what they're holding and sigh too. Newt runs towards Thomas' side,

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." he looks at his feet, which are almost touching the jar, "But it was close."

"Yeah, it was." he turns to look at the others as they stand up from the ground.

Minho approaches him, "Dude. You scared the hell out of me." he pats his back.

"Sorry."

Aris sighed while dusting his jeans and looking around, "Well, at least we managed to defeat Cole." he turns to Newt, "Nice job."

Newt smiled. Thomas stared at him and smiled too.

Minho nods, "Yeah, that was pretty awesome. But what'd you say about Teresa's right hook, huh?" everyone starts laughing. " _'Say goodnight, little witch.'_ BAM! Psycho went down."

Teresa nudges him with a smile, "And what about you holding him down to the floor, even with his werewolf strength?"

"My favorite was Gally's. Without his sword, he took Cole's head into his hands and smashed their foreheads together. Cole stood there with his eyes wide open; he didn't imagined getting hurt like that." Newt said.

Aris nods, "Yeah, who would thought?" he taps the dirty blond's head, "Your hardhead finally was useful."

Gally swats his hand away, making the lighter brunet chuckle. The rest of the gang starts laughing and talking about all that happen down there, saying how terrified they were, or how glad they were everything went out ok.

 

* * *

 

When the next day arrived it felt as if there had been a weight lifted from them. They didn't have to worry about Cole or anything else related to him. As soon as they entered the building, Minho had run to his next class because apparently he hadn't done his homework because of the chaos. Thomas laughed at his friend and continued walking over the hallway. He got the scent of cinnamon and instinctively followed it until he reached the other side of the hall where Newt was, taking his things out of his locker; Thomas decided to approach him. Newt notices him and smiles,

"Hey," says the brunet holding his hand up.

"Hey, you." he takes his books out, "How are you?"

"Good, good. You?"

"Fine. I still can't believe all of it, but I'm fine."

"Yeah, me neither. I mean, who would've thought that in your birthday you would become a werewolf and next thing you knew you are fighting against another werewolf."

Thinking about his birthday, he remembered the gift Newt had give to him and how he had to lose it to capture Cole. He mentally winced.

"Speaking of birthdays..."

Newt looks at him, "What about them?"

"Sorry about the charm. It was the only thing I could come up with."

"It's okay." he closes his locker, books in hand, and turns to the brunet, "Then I guess I'll have to stick around you in exchange of the good luck charm. You know, so I can protect you." he smiles and walks away.

Thomas smiles at that and wants nothing more to hug the life out of the Brit. But he'll conform with walking him to his classroom. But first he had to get his books, so he walks towards his locker. Standing a few feet away from his locker he saw Aris leaning over the lockers, looking at the students passing by; he approached the witch.

"Hey,"

Aris looks at him, gripping his satchel at his side, "Hey,"

"How you feeling?" he asks nodding at his forehead.

Aris looks up at the butterfly stitch he had on his forehead and smiles, "Oh, fine. It's Gally the one who had to stay in bed, tho. His head hurt too much."

"But he's gonna be fine?"

"Yeah. He's tough stuff; he won't go down that easily. What about you?"

"Me? Oh, I'm fine. Except maybe for the part where I'm grounded for being out until midnight and not answering my phone."

"But you saved the day."

"Yeah, but my guardians don't know it."

Aris shrugs, "Why won't you tell them? It's not like they didn't knew you were a werewolf."

"I know, I know. It's just... Don't wanna worry them, you know? I'm still pretty new to all of this, and stuff." he shook it off, "I'm just glad that we could stop Cole before he murdered more."

"Don't worry. He's going to spend a lot of time in my vault. And not in the good way," he added with a smirk.

Thomas chuckled at that, then stayed silent. Something kept bothering him.

"Why did Cole kill so many people? I mean, what does the spell do?"

"It could make you immune to wolfsbane, mountain ash, calm you down on a full moon. It's usually used by werewolves as you can see, but not many of them actually carry it out."

"Why? If it is that incredible then why don't werewolves do it? I mean, yeah, you kill, but it's so you won't be kill."

Aris turns to look at him, "You have to repeat the spell every two years."

Thomas understands. "So you'll have to kill 9 people every two years to be almost invincible?" the lighter brunet nods, "That's insane."

"Believe it or not, some people actually think it's a great idea."

Thomas wanted to ask who would think it was a great idea; what kind of people would do that, but there wasn't time right now.

"Well, I better get going. I didn't do my homework last night and it's from my second class, so I still have time."

Aris nods, "Okay, go. Hope you finish it."

"Thanks. Bye,"

He turns around and walks towards his locker; he goes to open his locker but his nose catches something. Turning back around, Thomas could smell the worry and anxiety oozy from Aris, so he walked back towards him.

"Everything alright?"

"Why'd you ask?"

"I can smell it. You're worried about something." the lighter brunet looks at the front again, so Thomas takes a step closer, "What is it?"

Aris sighs and turns his satchel around, opening it and taking a wrinkled paper with something written on it out,

"This was on one of the bookshelves at Cole's house."

Thomas takes the paper and looks at it, frowning as he doesn't understand the language. _What is this?_

Aris answers his non-spoke question, looking at the front again, "It's his supernatural creatures list. The bookshelf Teresa and I threw to the ground and the jars broke? Those weren't normal jars. Some of them had supernatural creatures trapped inside by Cole, and when they broke... They escaped."

Thomas turns his head to look at him, eyes wide in surprise and fear,

"How many?"

"Of them are supernatural creatures? No idea. How many jars were there?" he takes air and then looks at Thomas, "fifteen jars."

 

* * *

 

**BONUS:**

Thomas and Minho tip-toed their way to the back of Thomas' house, reaching the back door. After they took Newt to his house, -and after Thomas made sure he was really ok- they went to the brunet's house. Thomas took out the key to that door and went to open the door, only to be stopped by his friend.

"What?"

"What are you gonna do? asked the Asian male.

"What does it look like? I'm opening the door so we can both get in."

"Are you out of your mind?" he grabs the key, "I'll go first, then I'll open the window of your room and you can climb over there."

Thomas frowns, "Why can't we go at the same time to my room instead of your plan?"

"Because, shank, what are we gonna say if they find us both going to the bedroom? If it's just one of us, we can say we went to the bathroom."

"...Oh. That's actually a good plan."

"Yeah. That's because all of my plans are good. Your plans suck." he opens the door, "Okay, just wait for me."

Thomas nods and watches as his friend disappears into the house. He leans over the wall and waits there. A minute passes and Minho doesn't open the window.

_'What is he doing? Minho, I swear to God, if you went to the bathroom-_

Suddenly, he heard some rustling over the kitchen but he didn't saw any lights on. Was it Minho? No, he was going to my room. Was it Mary or Vince? Were they awake? Was it something dangerous?

He felt his veins burn with adrenaline. _'What if it was Cole? He tracked my scent and managed to get to my house?'_

Not waiting any longer, he opened the door and entered the kitchen, claws out and ready to attack when he got the familiar scent of the other person.

"Vince?" he puts his claws away.

He can see the other man clearly. He's in his pajamas and holding a glass of water. "Thomas, what the actual fuck- What are you doing up so late?"

"Uh, I..."

"And why are you wearing a bandit hat?"

Thomas instinctively brought a hand to his head, touching the soft material.

"Okay, you know what? I don't wanna know. If you snuck out to do something bad, if it's some kind of fetish, I really don't wanna know."

"Got it?"

Thomas nods.

"Okay. Now go to your room quietly. We don't wanna wake up Mary."

They turned around and were standing on their toes, ready to leave the kitchen when they heard another voice,

_"Another group project?"_

Thomas and Vince turn around, startled. Mary sits on a stool in the darkened pantry; she comes out of the shadows, hands on her hips.

Vince is the first to talk, "Woah! I didn't see you, sitting in the dark over there. Yeah, no. Actually, Thomas here," he says pointing at the boy, "was kind of hungry and wanted to get something to eat. And he found me already at the kitchen; I was thirsty. And we were gonna go upstairs when you appeared, so..."

Calmly she flicks the lights on, staring at them. She turns to the brunet boy. Thomas stands still not knowing what to do, "I-I don't want to be put in the middle of this."

"Thanks, kid." mutters Vince.

As they talk, Mary turns to the right and points to that direction, "Why is he wearing that bandit hat?" she asks, looking at Minho who is standing over the stairs, uncovering his face.

Vince glances at Thomas and at Mary, "His ears were cold. He's not with us." he turns to Minho, "Go back to bed." the raven boy doesn't wait another second and goes upstairs.

Mary turns to look at them, hands on her hips, "If what I think is happening is happening..." her face turns serious and with an ominously tone she says "...it better not be."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TAN TAN TAAAAN!!  
> Oh yeah. And you thought that Cole was the only trouble? Pfft.


	4. Nymphs Just Wanna Have Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! I'm back with another chapter!  
> So I'll tell you why the chapter is up when it's Tuesday even thought I said I would update on Fridays or Saturdays. Well, I wasn't gonna be able to upload the chapter by Friday (maybe at Sunday, but I didn't wanted to wait that long) 'cus I had an family emergency. But I had time today, so I decided to do it today~  
> Anyways, enjoy this chapter!

Walking inside the school building, Thomas made his way to his locker. He felt his eyes sore, not having being able to sleep last night. You wouldn't sleep either if you knew that you and your friends -as well as the rest of the town- were in danger of unknown magical creatures. He lied - _again_ \- to Mary and Vince and told them he had been studying 'till late; they bought it. Getting closer to his locker, he saw Minho already there. The raven boy was leaning over the locker, his forehead touching the cold metal. His eyes were closed, and Thomas knew by the way he looked that he was as tired as him.

"Hey. You look like shit." he said as soon as he got beside his friend.

Still with his eyes closed he answers "Why, thanks, bro. I love you too." he separates from the locker.

Thomas grimaces, "You know what I meant."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." he rubs his face, "I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about everything that happened two days ago. Yeah, we might have stop that psychopath werewolf and saved Newt, and that should be enough, but it's not! I'm still wondering about that list; we don't even know what kind of creatures that psychopath werewolf had. It could be anyone!" he points at a guy walking past them, "Could that be one?" he points another, "Or him?" then at a girl, "Or her?"

"Okay, Min, I get it. I'm the same. But we'll figure it out; I promise."

His friend seemed to accept his words, having turned to look at him, "By the way, how is Aris going with the list?"

At the other side of the hall, Gally entered the classroom and saw Aris sitting in his usual place, surrounded by books and papers that didn't seem to be from any assignment. His eyes were glued to the paper in front of him and had a pen on his right hand, tapping with it at the desk. Gally approached him,

"Or you're still trying to decipher the list, or that math homework was really more complicated than I thought."

With his eyes still on the papers, Aris answers "I'm still trying to decipher the list." and puts his pen down, "This sadist bastard wrote the list in several languages. He changes from Sanskrit to runes, then to Enochian, and then back to runes." he huffs, "It's really annoying!"

Gally nods, "He's clever."

"Yeah, but not more clever than me. I know all these languages." he flashes him a smile, "You know what does that mean?"

"That you don't have a social life?" says Gally with a smirk.

Aris pretends he doesn't care what the other said, still smiling, "Yeah, keep talking, you oaf." the dirty blond turns around, "I'm going to learn what does this list says, even if I have to go back to basic magic."

"Maybe I could help with that."

Aris snorts, "No offense, but I'm your better option at deciphering the list." at Gally's glare, he continues, "Listen to me: If you can decipher the list, or at least one part of it, I will kiss you. On the mouth."

"And why would I want that?"

 _"Please,"_ he points at his body, "how you won't want this?"

"Like this." with that, he turns around and towards his seat, putting his bag on the floor and looking at the front. Aris just feigns being insulted by his words, one hand over his chest and his mouth open.

Two classes later, and Newt and Aris found themselves at the same class, sitting next to each other at the back of the class, next the window. Newt was trying not to fall asleep in this class -like the rest of the students there- as the teacher's lesson was so boring. Even the 75 year-old teacher Mr. Fitz seemed bored; he slowly raised his arm to the board and pointed at some word written over it. Almost half class was asleep, while the other half were about to.

Aris was still with the list, and thank God the teacher didn't notice those weren't his class books. Newt blinked a few times, trying to stare at the board but couldn't. He turned his head to the right, where the lighter brunet was and saw him immersed in the papers and books.

Making sure the teacher wasn't looking, Newt leaned to the right to talk to Aris. "How is that going? Are you getting closer?"

Aris puts his pen down to look at him, "I'm going to tell you the same I told Gally but with nicer words since I like you." Newt frowns and says 'thank you?' as Aris continues, "The list it's encrypted in several languages. Almost all of them are magical languages and no offense but between me and you, I think I have the upper hand. Example, while I was checking the basement, I found mountain ash on the floor, and since he was a werewolf I highly doubt he put it there himself. So, my logic says that one of the jars had mountain ash."

"So you're saying it may take a while for you to know what it says since Cole wrote the list in different languages?"

"Yep."

Newt huffs, "What a jerk."

Aris grins, "He may have been a jerk but he wasn't stupid. He knew how to hide a list of supernatural creatures from supernatural creatures."

"But you can decipher it, right?"

"Yeah, but I'll need time. And coffee. Lots of coffee."

"That I can help."

Aris continued writing stuff down on the papers as he seemed to find the words he was looking for. Newt smiled and turned his attention back to the board.

Tilting his head to the window to admire the view, he saw what appeared to be a young woman in a long cream dress running across the field, stopping near a tree as she seemed to hear or see something. She glanced back at Newt, like she knew he was looking at her. Newt hears the teacher cough and turns to look at the front. Mr. Fitz coughed a little more before returning to his explanation. After that the Brit looked back at the window to find it empty. He frowns and shakes his head, closing his eyes. Maybe he was getting sleepy and imagining things. Ugh, and there were still 33 more minutes of class.

 

* * *

 

The bell rang and everyone exited their classes, some going to their lockers to get their stuff out, and other going directly outside. Since Aris only had one more class with Gally, he was able to elude Gally for at least a few minutes, before the dirty blond finds him and gets angry at him for disappearing like that. Ugh, party pooper. He continues walking, scurrying between people to make it to the street so he can take a cab or something to get out of here. He wanted to go for a coffee, but Gally had the keys to the truck. As he made his way he heard something that made him stop. Some melodic voice; he looked around but found no one singing. He frowned as he walked back to the building, students almost gone. The singing voice became clearer as he got closer, so turning around to see that Gally wasn't near, he decided to follow the singing voice. Turning around the corner of the school, he found the parking lot empty. He frowned as he walked forward and continued hearing singing. Once he was standing in the middle of the lot, he saw something- more like someone- over the edge of the railing on the top of the building.

A beautiful -because you couldn't use other word to describe her- young woman with porcelain skin, long chocolate hair with flowers in it, wearing a long cream dress that was held up a bit to show her calves and that she was barefoot. She was dangling her legs on the edge, seemingly happy as she smiled down at him.

"Hey. How did you got there?"

She doesn't answer. She just puts her hands on each side of her body, the dress falling down and covering her feet. Aris has a bad feeling about this, so he takes a step forward.

"What are you doing up there? Maybe you should-

Then, out of nowhere, the girl impulses her whole body with her hands and suddenly she's falling down. Aris' eyes widen and he leaps forward in an attempt to catch the girl, but as she falls, something incredible happens. She disappears right before she reaches Aris' arms, leaving behind flowers and a fresh breeze. Aris looks between his hands and then something hits him. His eyes widen in realization as he turns around, finding the girl standing before him. He goes to open his mouth and says "You are a-

But before he can finish, the girl brings her hand to his face and blows some purplish powder at him, knocking him to the ground. The girl looks at him with a happy smile before disappearing, leaving the lighter brunet unconscious.

 

* * *

 

Thomas had finished taking his last bite from the food Mary leaved him -she had to go out and get the grocery, and Vince was going to be late because of his work- when Gally called and told him that he needed his help. Just as Thomas accepted, someone knocked on his door and he found the tall blond carrying an unconscious Aris on his door. He led him to his room and let him lay Aris down on his bed.

"So what did you said happened?" Thomas asked.

"I found him unconscious at the parking lot of the school."

"Is he fine?"

"I don't know. He hasn't woken up for a couple of minutes. I'll go for some water for when he wakes up."

Thomas nods and the other leaves the room, closing the door. Thomas approaches the bed and sits on the edge, looking at the unconscious teenager. He tried to find some strange scent but he couldn't find anything. Maybe he just passed out? But why was he at the parking lot alone? Wasn't Gally supposed to be at his side all the time? Then what-

The bed moved and Thomas' eyes fell right at Aris' body. The lighter brunet was scrunching his face as he woke up, trying to open his eyes.

"Aris? Aris, are you alright?"

The witch blinks a few times before his eyes settle in Thomas figure. He just stays there, staring at him for a few seconds before a smile appears on his face,

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Thomas frowns at the smile. It wasn't a relieved smile or anything like that. It was somehow... a love full one? What the hell?

"You sure you're okay? You were unconscious at the parking lot at school."

"You found me?" his smile only grew bigger.

"Uh, something like that. Why were you there?"

"I don't remember. The only thing I remember was... the bell rang and I went outside, then..." he closes his eyes and shakes his head, "I-I don't know, I think I passed out. Then I woke up and you were there." he smiles again.

The door opens and Gally enters with a glass of water. His eyes fall over Aris awaken figure,

"Finally. You woke up. What happened?"

Aris frowns and he turns to Thomas, "What is he doing here? I thought we were alone."

Gally approaches the bed and puts the glass on the nightstand, "You're not going to be alone for a long time. What happened?"

"I don't remember."

_"Lies."_

"I'm not lying."

"You always lie."

"No. Not to Thomas."

Both Gally and Thomas frown at that.

"Aris, you were unconscious at the parking lot. Now; do you remember anything?" asked again the dirty blond.

"I'm telling you. I don't remember. I-I..." he sighs, "I think I saw something..."

"What was it?" asks Thomas.

Aris closes his eyes, "I... I don't..." he has flashes of someone standing in front of him, but he can't see their face. "It was someone... I don't know, but I could _feel_... magic coming from them."

"You felt it?"

"Yes. That's why I went to the parking lot. I felt it. And then..." he shakes his head.

Thomas gets closer, "Please, Aris. It would be helpful if you remember anything about the creature that you found before you lose consciousness."

Aris looks at him without blinking before he looks at his hands, trying to think about something. He stays like that for almost a minute. Thomas sighs and lowers his head, and just as he is about to stand up, a hand is reaching out for the hem of his shirt.

Thomas meets Aris' eyes and the other opens his mouth, "I remember now. It was a nymph; they were on the list."

"You sure?"

He raises an eyebrow at him, "You think I don't recognize a nymph when I see one?"

Thomas nods and turns to the dirty blond, "Gally, what do you think?"

Gally stays silent for a moment before he speaks, "Nymphs were one of the creatures in those vials and the list. It must be that."

"So... nymphs. Are they good or bad?" asked Thomas a little tense.

"They are pacific creatures. They are generally regarded as divine spirits of nature who love to dance and sing."

"So they are harmless?" Thomas felt relieved for a second-

Aris spoke, "Nymphs are also like fairies in that they were unpredictable and a little scary. But, seeing as they are from a different culture, they are also entirely different." and the second was gone.

"But there's nothing to worry about."

"Gally's right. You'll be safe with me." he said putting his hand over Thomas' tight. The werewolf's eyes fell to his hand and for some strange reason he felt his face heat. Okay... that was strange. Maybe Aris was still dizzy. Yeah, it was that.

 

* * *

 

After Gally and Aris left -the witch didn't wanted to go, so the tall blond had to carry him over his shoulder-, Thomas called Newt to tell him about the nymphs. He was currently over his room, laying on his bed while throwing a baseball at the air and catching it with a hand, the phone between his ear and shoulder.

 _"So is he going to be alright?"_ asked the blond over the line.

"Yeah, I think so. Gally took him home and said he would be keeping an eye on him all the time. He'll call us if something happens."

_"That's good."_

Thomas stayed silent for a moment, a thought crossing his mind so he decided to give it a try, "So... Do you know anything about nymphs?"

On the other line there was silence. Not even breathing was heard. Thomas worried that he had asked something he shouldn't. _'Shit. I shouldn't have asked Newt about magic. I'm never going to ask Newt about magic again.'_

He was about to say he was sorry and hang up when Newt answered,

 _"Well, I know that because of their close connection to water, a fertilizing element, the Nymphs were worshiped as daemons of fertility and vegetation. They protected the plants and animals, and occasionally raised human beings."_ with a slightly seductive tone in his voice he said _"I didn't knew this was going to be surprise test."_

Thomas grinned, "Oh yeah; actually, you'll have to write an essay about that and two slideshows for next week."

Thomas heard him laugh and he smiled. Oh God, he didn't screw it!

_"Why'd you ask?"_

Now it was Thomas' turn to fall silent. Accidentally he let the baseball fall to his face, hitting him in the nose and eliciting a groan from him. Newt frowned on the other side of the line. Thomas sat in his bed, a hand to his nose. Good werewolf reflexes. He pick up the phone again, "Um... Well, I, uh... Wanted to make sure if you knew what were going against and... wanted you to be careful."

 _"Oh."_ he heard Newt exhale, _"Yeah, me too. We have to be careful."_

"Yeah, yeah, that's what I meant."

_"So you called Minho and Teresa?"_

Thomas stays still, as if the blond could see him through the phone.

"...Sure."

The Brit chuckled at his tone, _"I'll call Teresa; you call Minho."_

"Okay."

_"Okay. I gotta go. Goodbye, Tommy. Take care."_

"You too."

The Brit hung up. Thomas putted the phone down on his bed and fell backwards over it, staring at the ceiling. He heard the car park near the house and knew Mary had arrived with the groceries; so he knew he should go down and help her.

 

* * *

 

The night was quiet, just the soft sound of the wind blowing at the trees was heard. Thomas was sleeping at his bed, the covers covering half of his body. Everything was going swell until a faint noise was heard. His eyes open at the faint sound -instinct. He took his claws out from under the covers. He sits down on his bed, looking around the room for signs of anyone there. There wasn't. Then what was that noise?

He heard it again and his eyes fell on the window, where a black cat and green eyes were looking back at him. But why was a cat-

Something came to his mind and he frowned,

"Aris?"

He stands up from his bed, feet touching the cold floor as he advances to the window. Why was the other here? Was something wrong? And why was he a cat?

He ignores those questions as he opens the window and lets the animal enter his room. As he closes his window an turns to the cat, he sees the bracelet on the floor and the cat touching it. Soon Aris transforms back into human, hiding in the shadows.

"I knew you wouldn't let me freeze to death, that's why I came as a cat. That, and that this way is easier."

Thomas frowns, " _'Easier'_?

"I'm already without clothes."

Just as Thomas opens his mouth to ask, the other comes out of the shadows; Thomas barely sees his naked legs when he turns around, covering his eyes.

"You are naked!"

"That's what I said."

Still not looking he asks "Why are you naked?! What the hell?!"

The hell was going on?! This looked like one of those movies where two teenagers end up having sex because one of them appeared naked at the other's house.

Looking around his room, he grabs a nearby shirt and tosses it to the lighter brunet, "Are you crazy?! If my guardians find out that I have someone over they-

"Then we'll have to be quiet, right?"

"What do you mean- _oh no_ , no!" he pushes Aris to the bathroom, and once he is inside he quickly turns around and exits, shutting the bathroom door. "Stay there while I decide what I'm going to do!"

He was thankful that Aris didn't shout or knock the door; he only heard the other muttering 'fine' as he sighed. _'What do I do? Who should I call?'_

 

* * *

 

Thomas opens the back door of the house, letting Gally enter his house. The dirty blond was wearing long pants and a black shirt, clearly his pajamas. The two of them make their way to the stairs,

"Thanks for coming." says Thomas quietly.

"No, I'm actually glad you called. I only noticed he wasn't there after I woke up to use the bathroom."

They get to Thomas' room, -without making any noise to wake up Vince and Mary- closing the door and approaching the bathroom's entrance. Thomas knocks, and moments later the knob turns around, revealing -much to Thomas' relief- a loose grey shirt covering the lighter brunet's figure,

"Are you my little croissant?" asks Aris as he opens the door with a smile, eyes falling on Gally.

"No, I'm your common bread."

His smile falls, "Ugh. What is he doing here?" he asks Thomas.

"I called him; you need to get out before I get in trouble."

Aris crosses his arms, "I'm not going anywhere. I want to stay here."

"And I wanted to sleep eight uninterrupted hours, but we can't always get what we want." says the tall blond and nods to the door, "Now, move it."

"Thomas wants me to stay here, right Thomas?" he asks, turning his head to the brunet.

"Wha- _no!_ "

"Don't deny it! You let me into your room knowing it was me!"

"I wasn't gonna leave you freeze to death!"

"See! You care!"

As they argued, Gally rolled his eyes and took out from his pocket a small vial with a blue liquid. He took off the lid and put it in front of Aris.

"Hey, can you smell this?"

Aris inhales and his eyes roll back into his head, his whole body falling back before Gally catches him and carries him over his shoulder unconscious.

"Sorry for the trouble."

Thomas sighs, scratching his neck, "It's fine. But we have to catch those nymphs before they cause more trouble."

"I second that." he walks towards the door, "Well, I better leave now. I don't think you want to explain to your tutors why two of your friends are here in the middle of the night and one of them is unconscious."

Thomas cringed at that. Gally nods and walks through the door.

 

* * *

 

Closing his locker, Thomas huffed exhausted. He couldn't sleep well last night. He kept thinking that Aris would escape Gally and return to his room, and he wasn't gonna take any chances so he stood awake. He isn't really sure if he's glad he did, or if he should murder his brain for providing that idea. As he shakes his head he turns to the left and sees the blond walking towards him with two coffees on his hands, taking a sip from one of them. Instantly, his day seemed to be better.

Newt stands beside him smiling, "Hey,"

"Hey, what's with the coffee?"

Newt looks at the coffee on his right hand, "I brought Aris one since he's staying up 'till late trying to figure out the list."

 _"He's staying up late but not for that reason."_ mutters Thomas between teeth.

"What?"

"Nothing. Walk you to your class?"

"Sure."

They walk together to the Brit's class, which was Chemistry. Entering the half empty classroom, Newt went to his seat at the middle of the room. Just as he's reaching for his seat, he waves at the person beside him. It's unfortunately too late for Thomas to notice the other's scent, as Aris is turning around, facing him. The brunet witch seems to be taken back for a moment, before putting a hand over his hips and smirking,

_"Hey~"_

"...Hi."

"I brought you coffee." Newt said, giving him his coffee. The lighter brunet accepted the drink.

"Aw, thanks. You're a doll." he looks at Thomas with a smirk, "And what did you brought me?"

"I needed to bring something?"

"Oh, don't worry. With you being here I'm satisfied." he said while taking a sip from his coffee. Newt blinked in confusion.

Thomas stood still for a moment before coughing, "Oh, well, look at the time. The bell will almost ring, I better go." just as he went to turn around and leave, Aris' voice stopped him.

"Oh, but Thomas, you have this class now."

He freezes. "What? No, I don't."

"Yes you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yes you do, Tommy." Newt said sitting down on his seat, putting his coffee over his desk.

Thomas panicked for a moment. This can't be true! Quickly he brought his backpack up and opened it, looking inside for his schedule. Once he found it he cursed himself. 'Chemistry'.

He looked at the other side of Newt but that seat was occupied. In fact, every other seat was occupied.

"You can sit here." the brunet witch said patting the empty seat beside his.

Thomas felt a shiver down his spine. The bell rang and the teacher entered the classroom, so Thomas didn't had any other choice.

Let's just say Thomas couldn't concentrate during all class as the brunet witch wouldn't take his eyes off him. God, they needed to find those nymphs ASAP.

 

* * *

 

The school ended and everyone left. Thomas and Teresa had to stay to help some teacher, and Aris offered to help too. After the teacher told them they could leave, Thomas asked the raven girl if she wanted to go somewhere -so he could get away from Aris-, but then he disappeared. Moments later after his disappearance Aris left too. Teresa exited the school, walking towards the sidewalk so she could take a cab or something. As she made her way there, she saw the dirty blond standing beside his truck. She approached him,

"Hey, what are you still doing here?"

He nods at the school, "I was supposed to be waiting for Aris, but it appears he left. You?"

"Me and Thomas had to stay to help a teacher, but Tom disappeared in thin air. I think he's still escaping from Aris."

"Poor bastard." he chuckles and then stays silent for a moment. "Want me to give you a ride?"

"Can you?"

"Yeah, no problem. Just have to get to the drugstore first if you don't mind."

"Yeah, no. Thanks."

They got into the truck and Gally drove away from school. Minutes later they got to the drugstore, and they both went into the store. As the tall blond was over one aisle, the raven girl walked around the place. She went to the cashier and found her with her head down resting over her arms, like she was sleeping at work.

Teresa tilted her head as she approached the woman and slowly poked at her to wake her up, but the woman didn't sat up.

"Ma'am?"

She touched again and this time the cashier's head touched the counter, her eyes still closed. She had a bad feeling about this.

"Gally?" she called out for him. She took a step back and over the mirror that gave a view to the back of the store she saw a young woman staring right back at her. Startled, she turned around and saw in time as the girl ran away towards the door. Gally ran back to her side.

"What is it?"

"I-I think I saw a nymph!" she said pointing at the door.

"You sure?"

The raven girl nodded and the dirty blond ran to the door, exiting the store with Teresa following. Surely they saw a young beautiful girl dancing around the parking lot, like she didn't care if someone saw her. She had a short cream dress and was barefoot. She also had some little sticks tangled on her long hair.

"HEY!" yelled Gally.

The girl stopped dancing and looked at them for a moment. She then smiled and started running away. Gally and Teresa started pursuing her, but boy the girl could run.

"Hurry!"

They continued running after the nymph. Gally unfortunately trip over something on the ground, but Teresa continued. She was getting closer until she heard a voice behind her, so she turned her head while running.

"Teresa! Don't get too close!"

She frowned, but as she turned back to the race, the nymph had something in her hand: some purple powders. She threw them, hitting the raven girl right at the face. Teresa's eyes close and her whole body falls backwards. Gally leaps at the front and manages to catch the unconscious girl before she touches the ground.

"Hey. Hey, Teresa. You okay?"

A simple groan comes from her mouth.

"Come, I'll take you inside."

Entering the drugstore, he sat the girl over one of the empty tables that were there. The girl still had her eyes closed; Gally kneeled in front of her so he was at her level.

"You feel good?"

"Ugh, I thought I was gonna pass out."

Gally smiles, "Not on my watch."

Teresa opens her eyes and suddenly she smiles at him. He stands up again and looks around the place. Why was a nymph in here? Turning back to the raven girl, he finds her still looking and smiling at him. She moves her hand to his arm, cupping a little.

"You have strong arms."

Gally's eyes fall to where her hand is placed and then he looks at her face, finding her smiling at him.

 

* * *

 

"We have another victim of the nymphs' playing." it's the first thing Gally says once he reaches out at Thomas' house. The brunet werewolf had managed to avoid Aris by changing places every time the lighter brunet went after him.

"What? Who?"

Gally nods at the window, so Thomas looks out of the window and sees Teresa inside Gally's truck, looking around the car with a soft smile on her face.

"Teresa? Really?!"

"Yeah, we found a nymph and while chasing after her, she got struck with a powder. I think it's the same powder they used on Aris."

"So what do we do?"

"We need to catch them as fast as we can. She keeps staring at me and it's starting to give me the creeps." says the tall blond.

Thomas nods, "Yeah, Aris is kind of... intense."

There's a honk startling them both, and they look out of the window to the truck. Teresa waves at them with a smile, and they wave back.

Still looking out of the window, Gally speaks, "We might need some help."

"I'm already on it." Thomas said as he took his phone out, dialing a number.

Minutes later, the bell rang and Thomas opened the door to Newt, letting him enter his house and guide him to the living room, where Gally and Teresa were.

"Okay, we just need to wait for Minho and then we'll be complete."

"What about Aris?" Newt asks.

"No, thanks. We already have a problem like that here," he said pointing at Teresa, who was batting her eyelashes at Gally, "No need for another one."

"But don't you think we all should be involved? I mean, Aris is the one trying to decipher the list and he has magic like me."

"Yeah, but you haven't seen him! He looks at me like Teresa is doing to Gally."

"Okay, okay. I won't tell Aris." he sits for a moment and then he looks at Thomas, "Hey... did you told Minho what happened to Aris?"

Thomas' face turns pale and that's the only answer the blond needs. Moments later the bell rings and everyone looks at the door, knowing very well who was at the other side. Shit.

"Oh, no." Thomas let out. He went to the door and sighing he opened it, finding his best friend there... standing beside Aris, who was smiling at him.

"Hey, bro. I found him at the store and he said he was looking for you, so I told him I was coming to your house and that he could come over too."

Thomas was whining on the inside. It wasn't Minho's fault; he didn't knew. It was his, and now he has to suck it.

"Yeah, cool." he moves aside and lets them in, closing the door behind. They walk to the living room and join the rest.

"So? What's going on? You told me it was important."

"It is." the other two sit and they all look at Thomas, who begins to explain, "Okay, remember the list?"

"Yeah,"

"Well, we happen to find one of the creatures write down on it."

Minho looks at the rest and back at the brunet, "So what is it?"

"Nymphs."

Minho stays still for a moment; he then blinks a few times, "Are you for real?"

"Yes."

"But they are just a bunch of girls. Why should we worry?"

Teresa shot him a nasty look and stretched her arm to snap him on the back of the head, gaining an _'hey!'_ from the Asian male.

"At least she didn't lose her feminist side." Gally said. Teresa immediately smiled and rested her hand over his arm, to which he snatched back.

Minho frowns at that, "What's with her?"

"She's under the nymphs spell... or something. That's why we have to find them."

Minho holds his hand up, stopping him. "Okay. So let me get this straight. You want to find a group of supernatural creatures with unknown powers... With a group formed by:" he points at Thomas, "a werewolf who is still learning how to be a werewolf," he then points at Newt, "a novice witch", he points at Aris, "a drugged witch," he points at himself, "a human," he points at Teresa, "another human which is drugged," and then he points at Gally, "and a guardian dog?" he makes a dramatic pause, staring at his friend, "Thomas, the odds are not in your favor."

"I know, okay?! We are not the most orthodox group, but we are the only ones who can do something about it!" he sighs and takes air. "I'll go and find the nymphs even if I have to go alone."

There's silence around the room. For a moment Thomas thinks he really will have to go alone, but then Newt stands up.

"I'll go with you."

The brunet smiles at the Brit. God, at least he will have good company. Aris is the next one to stand up,

"If Thomas is going then I'm going too." Aris said. Teresa stands up too and nods at him.

With a loud sigh, Gally stands up.

"Well, this _'guardian dog'_ has to keep an eye on him -he nods at Aris-, so I'm in."

Thomas nods in thanks; then he looks at Minho, waiting for an answer from him. The Asian male looks back at him, arms crossed. He stands up with a grin,

"What do you even have to ask? If you're going, I'm going."

Thomas smiles.

"Okay. Let's do this."

 

* * *

 

A few hours later, over at school there was complete silence. Well, what did you expected from an empty school? Approaching cautiously to the building, hiding in the nearest bushes were Thomas and Newt. They had decided to divide in teams and go around the school. Thomas didn't knew why, but he thought that it would be better to start at the school, so that's where they were. The brunet was holding a walkie-talkie on his hand, just like the rest of the guys. He glances at the blond who is looking around the perimeter. He nods at Thomas and the brunet nods back, pushing a button on the device so he can talk.

"Okay. Everything looks good. Are you all in your positions? Team 2, do you read me?" he let go of the button.

Gally's voice was heard from the walkie-talkie, _"Ready here, Team 1."_

There's a little bit of rustling before Aris voice is heard too, _"I don't know why I didn't got to go with Thomas. I can protect him."_

_"Yeah, but who protects him from you?"_

Thomas chuckles. He clears his throat and pushes the button again, "Team 3, ready?"

 _"Right here, dude. More than ready."_ came Minho's voice; he was with Teresa.

"Okay. We'll search the school first; it's the first place Aris ran into them. We still have some light, so I suggest we take advantage of that."

 _"You are so smart!"_ came Aris' voice.

"Uh... Thanks." out of the corner of his eye he saw Newt chuckle silently and he cleared his throat. "All right. Team 2, when I say it, you'll enter the building from the back door while me and Newt will enter from the front door. Team 3?"

_"Yes, sir?"_

"You stay outside and check the perimeter. If you see anything suspicious, you tell us. Got it?"

_"Got it."_

Thomas and Newt approach quietly the front door of the school. Once standing in front of it, the blond with a hand on the lock, Thomas pushes the button of the walkie-talkie. "Team 2, ready?"

_"Ready."_

"Okay. Now!"

At the same time, Newt and Aris opened their respective doors and entered the building, closing behind. Looking around, Thomas tried to use his still weak sense of smell to find anything unusual. He nods at Newt and they start walking along the hallway. Newt had both hands up above the waist, having them ready in case he had to use magic. As they walk, Newt is the first to speak.

"So... Aris is trying to get into your pants?" he says with a smirk over his face.

"Yeah. It's kind of scary. He even broke into my room one night completely nude."

"That's not scary, dear; that's creepy."

Thomas snorts, and Newt chuckles.

"Yeah... Besides, that's not the kind of attention I want."

"No?"

"Well, of course I would like someone interested in me. But, he's not the one I want that attention from."

"Really? Have someone in mind?"

Thomas stares at him, and is about to open his mouth to say it but his walkie-talkie rings.

 _"Team 1, here Team 2. I think we saw something."_ came Gally's voice. _"We are going to investigate but it might not be anything."_

In that moment over their side, Thomas and Newt heard a noise coming from inside a classroom.

"Yeah, we are also going to investigate something." he puts the radio into his pocket and he and the Brit approach the classroom. Standing in front of the door, Thomas tries to hear or smell, but he can't find anything. Opening the door and entering the room, he finds it empty. He sighs in relief and Newt enters the classroom.

"So nothing?"

"No." he sighs again, "I'm not even sure if they are going to be here."

"But it's a good thing we eliminate possible places off the list, don't you think?" asks the blond with a tilt of his head.

Thomas finds himself smiling at the other. "Yeah."

 

* * *

 

Inside one of the last classrooms were Gally and Aris. They hadn't found anything. But just in case they stayed inside the classroom to check everything. As Gally kept an eye on the door, Aris stared at the walkie-talkie on his hands. He was growing worried because they haven't heard anything from Thomas in almost 5 minutes now.

"Everything clear?" he asks not really interested in knowing the answer.

"Yeah, it seems so."

"You think they're fine?" he looks up just in time to see Gally shrug. He frowns and looks back at the walkie-talkie, pressing the 'talk' button. "Thomas, are you there? Thomas? Thomas?" he looks at Gally, "Why won't he answer?"

"Maybe he doesn't want to hear your voice right now."

"What if he's in danger? What if something happened to him?"

"Relax. He's a werewolf."

Aris shakes his head. "I have to go to help him!" he says as he pushes himself away from the desk he was leaning.

Gally stands in front of him, blocking his pass. "No. Where do you think you are-"

"I'm going to help Thomas!" he tries to push the dirty blond aside but can't.

"No! What are we gonna do if one of the nymphs catches you?"

"They can't do me anything else!"

"I'm not taking any chances."

And in a swift move he grabs Aris' hand and takes out a metal handcuff and cuffs him to the nearest desk, much to the lighter brunet's annoyance. He was cleaver enough to put the handcuff over his magic cuff so he wouldn't take it off, turn into a cat, get free and then turn back to human and chase after Thomas.

Aris pulls at his cuff. " _Gally!_ No, _hey_! What are you doing?!"

"Sorry, this is for your own safety."

"Gally, you are a-

"Yeah, yeah. Tell me something new." he looks at the door, "Look, just... stay here, okay? I'll go find the others." he starts walking towards the door.

"No, no, Gally- Come back!"

Gally peeks his head back inside, "Stay here."

Aris raises his cuffed wrist, _"Duh!"_

 

* * *

 

Outside the building, Teresa was kneeling on the ground, staring like a hawk at the building, while Minho was looking around them. The raven boy is the first to talk,

"Is it just me or did they weren't thinking when they put the only two humans in the same team?"

"Do you think they are okay?"

Minho looks at her, "Mm?"

Still looking at the school she says, "What if something happens and we are here?"

"If something happens there, it's a good thing we are here. We can escape easily."

Teresa looks at him. "Would you really leave Thomas behind?"

Minho stares at her before looking at the school. "Of course not. Never."

She nods, as if saying that that was exactly her point. And before he could say or do anything, the raven girl stands to her feet, she pushes the walkie-talkie to his chest and marches towards the school. Minho panics.

"No! Teresa!"

And starts running after her. They both enter the school and everything is silent... even thought there were four -now six- people inside. Minho walks behind the girl, who just continues her way while looking around.

"Teresa, this wasn't part of the plan!"

"I don't care! What if Gally is hurt?"

Minho groans - _damn those nymphs and their powers!_ \-  and looking at the utility closet he has an idea. He stops for a moment and gasps,

"Did you see that?!"

Teresa turns to him, "What?"

"I saw Gally just right now!"

Teresa's eyes lit, "Really? Where?!"

"He hide in this closet!"

With that Minho opens the utility closet and Teresa enters with a smile, before the door closes behind her.

_"Hey! He's not here!"_

"No, really, I saw him."

There was banging at the door, _"This closet is no more big than any other utility closet! He's not here!"_

"Really? Oh, my bad. What an idiot. Let me open the door." he pulls at the knob without turning it around, "Oh geez, the door doesn't open. Don't worry, I'll go find someone who can open it!" with that he ran away.

_"Minho! Don't you dare leave me here!"_

"Don't worry! Maybe I'll find Gally!" he shouted over his shoulder as he turned the corner.

 

* * *

 

Thomas opened another door and entered the classroom... only to find it also empty. He had to admit it; they weren't going to get anywhere if they continued like this. It was obvious the nymphs weren't at school.

Newt came by his side, "Still nothing?"

Thomas shakes his head. "I feel useless."

"Don't say that, Tommy."

Thomas loved the way the blond said his name, but he particularly loved how he called him _'Tommy'_. Just calling him that made this day 10 times better.

Exiting the classroom, he felt his walkie-talkie ringing, so he took it out and answered.

_"Thomas, this is Minho. I had to lock Teresa in a closet, so don't worry if you hear her banging a door or yelling."_

Thomas frowns, "Wait. How did you trap her in a closet if you're outside?"

_"I'm not outside, I'm inside."_

"You're _what_?!"

_"Teresa ran inside, so I had to improvise."_

Thomas closes his eyes and presses the walkie-talkie to his forehead for a moment. "Okay, okay. Just stay there, ok? I'll go find you before the nymphs do."

Minho puts the walkie-talkie over his pocket and continues walking, not getting away just checking his surroundings. He's about to go back to the closet he locked Teresa in when he hears some giggling. Turning his head fast, he looks around before walking to where he heard the sound. There's a classroom with the door open, so he swallows hard before entering the room, looking around only to find it empty. He was so sure he heard something. Taking a step outside and ready to leave for good, he saw something out of the corner of his eye, so he decided to turn his head. A slim girl with long light brown hair, short dress and barefoot is on the opposite side and was looking at him. Their eyes lock for about three seconds before he broke the eye contact.

"Hey!"

After he yell, in that moment the girl smiled and ran away. Minho didn't lose time and started running after her. While running, he took out the walkie-talkie,

"Thomas! I saw them! They're going to the second floor! You hear me? They're going to the second floor!"

He doesn't wait for the brunet to answer him back, he just continues running and he climbs the stairs. The girl also continued to run; she even was giggling as she got away from him but once he reached the top, there was no one. As he caught his breath, he looked around. How could he lose her? She was practically three steps away from him!

Taking a moment to calm down his heartbeat, he closes his eyes. In that instant he felt as if someone had passed beside him, so he quickly turns around, but that sudden move makes his feet tangle and trip, falling over the stairs. He rolls over them until he reaches the end, hitting his head on the hard cold floor and getting knocked out. The walkie-talkie lying beside him.

Hearing a loud noise somewhere, Thomas takes out his walkie-talkie.

"Minho, do you read me?" he waits for an answer but it doesn't come, "Minho, you there? Is everything alright?"

_"Thomas!"_

Thomas turned and saw Gally walking towards them. He looked around them and noticed that the other witch was missing.

"Where is Aris?"

"I had to cuff him to a desk. For his own safety. He can be mad at me after this."

"Minho doesn't answer, b-but I think he saw a nymph. He said he locked Teresa in a closet."

"So it's just the three of us then." he said looking at Newt and Thomas. Sighing, he looks at the brunet, "Well, I don't mean to sound rude or pessimistic, but I don't think we find anything."

Thomas lets out a nervous laugh, "Yeah, me neither. I was about to say the same thing."

"So why are we still here? We should try it tomorrow at the woods. Maybe that's where they're hiding."

"Yeah, you know, natural stuff, right?"

"Right."

"Um, guys?"

The other two stop talking and turn to the blond witch, who is pointing at something a few meters away from them. They followed his finger and found a platinum blonde girl dancing alone, moving her arms up above her head with her eyes closed, unaware to her surroundings; the nymph stops once she feels observed and looks at their direction. Neither of them moves a muscle.

Suddenly, the nymph turns on her heels and starts running away, so Thomas and the other two run after her. They end up running outside of the school, and see her running towards the woods. Great. As if in a closed school wasn't hard enough. Now Thomas did got an earthy scent coming from the girl. Okay, that's how a nymph smells; good to know. The nymph seems to mingle with the trees but now that Thomas has her scent he won't let her go that easily. Unfortunately he loses her from sight for almost five seconds but he doesn't stop running. Gally and Newt manage to catch up with him and they arrive to a place with less trees, and standing a few feet away from them are six nymphs, dancing around. Surprisingly, there were only six nymphs; one with short black hair with bangs, two with medium length red hair, another with long blonde hair that was held in a fishtail, and another two with long brown hair. In all of their hairs were flowers tangled in them.

When seeing that the nymphs aren't even looking at them, Thomas looks at Gally, "You think they even care we're here?"

The nymphs stop dancing and they look at them without moving for a few seconds before a smile appears on their faces and one of them approaches them... more precisely, she approaches Newt. She takes him by the hand and pulls him back to her place, and before Thomas can take his claws out and start fighting, he is confused as the nymphs begin dancing with Newt, singing melodically while they dance happily with the blond. Huh? Why were they dancing with Newt? Why weren't they attacking them or something like that?

"What's going on?" he asks confused to the tall guy beside him.

"They like beautiful things. And once they find something they consider 'beautiful', they'll want to be near that. They tend to get very happy about it."

Thomas tears his eyes from him and back at the scene before him. The nymphs were still dancing and singing, the blond laughing with them as they moved his arms to follow the dance. The sun made it look like he had some kind of halo over his golden locks, making him blend into the mythical creatures. Gally's words echoed in his mind: _They like beautiful things_. They considered Newt something beautiful. He couldn't blame them. He was beautiful.

"So they aren't going to hurt him?"

"No."

"Nor us?"

"No. What kind of information does the internet provide you? I've told you: Nymphs are pacific creatures. Sometimes mischievous as are most nymphs, but nothing to worry about."

Thomas felt a little relief wash over him, but then remembered why they were here in the first place. Even if they weren't evil they had to stop. Taking a step forward, Thomas clears his throat.

"Excuse us!"

The beautiful nymphs stop dancing once more and turn to them; even Newt does. Thomas licks his lips and clears his throat,

"Hi, sorry to interrupt. Umm, but I, uh, I'm gonna have to ask you to go back to where you came from!"

Everything stood in silence. No one moved a single muscle. Thomas thought he had done it well... until the nymphs started giggling at him. Thomas felt his face heat. Behind him, Gally facepalmed himself. Newt looked at him with a comfortable smile, as if saying that it's alright.

As the nymphs stop laughing, the black haired nymph takes a step forward.

"You really thought that you asking us to _'go back to where we came from'_ would work?"

Thomas shrugs, "Had to try."

"I see." she nods at the other girls and they push at Newt to go back to Thomas, so he does. "Nobody ever asks us like that. Nobody ever asks, period. So I give you points for trying."

"...So, will you leave? Not to be rude."

The nymphs don't move, just glance at each other as if they were talking with their minds or with their eyes. Could they do that? Thomas didn't knew. Finally, the one with dark hair nods and takes a step forward,

"Alright. We will stop going around the town and leave... but we will demand something in exchange."

Thomas frowned. Shit, he hoped it wasn't something expensive. But at least they would leave peacefully, so he accepted.

"Okay... What is it?"

"A kiss."

That took Thomas off guard. "A kiss?"

The platinum blonde takes a step forward, standing beside the dark haired. "It's a sign of affection. Something beautiful, you might say. That's the only way we'll leave."

Wow. Okay. A kiss. Did they expect him to kiss one of them? Or they wanted him to bring a guy so they could kiss him? What the hell did they exactly meant with that?! But if he didn't do something right now they wouldn't leave and everything wouldn't be back to normal. But he didn't wanted to kiss them... not because they weren't attractive. No, no. But Newt was standing beside him. He didn't want to do it with Newt being able to look at him. Thomas was sure that if he were a cartoon character, his head would be fuming, steam coming out of his ears from the hard work his brain was doing.

He barely registers Newt talking to the nymphs, asking them something but he doesn't know what. They nod at him... Okay. Maybe he had to do it before they lose their calm.

But just as he had decided to take a step forward and do it, even before he could take said step, suddenly the blond is reaching out and fisting Thomas' shirt to drag him in and seal their lips together.

Thomas' stunned and just sort of not moving, but Newt has a firm grip and his eyes shut and he isn't moving away, mouth hot and pressed to his own. The only thing he can do once he's recovered is tilt his head slightly to slot their mouths together. It was better than he imagined. Newt has lips that are soft and full, the kind that are delicious to caress with his own. And the way they move against his has him grabbing at the blond to pull him closer, chests brushing. He's sure he can hear the giggles coming from the nymphs but he couldn't care less. He was kissing Newt and that was all that matter.

The blond pulls off slowly and they stand there looking at each other for a moment. Newt's face has a beautiful flush and his eyes are half open, somehow glassy. Thomas himself feels flushed and bothered, and his hands are still over the blond's hips, holding him close.

He then remembers why they were so close and had kissed and turns his head to the nymphs, the blond doing the same,

"Was that okay?"

All the nymphs smile bright back at them, so Thomas takes it as a yes.

 

* * *

 

A few minutes later everyone was at the parking lot of the school, reunited around a big, purple portal that Aris had opened. After solving the problem with the nymphs, they -Thomas, Newt, Gally and the nymphs- had gone back to school and taken Aris, Teresa and Minho out from there; the nymphs also reverted their magic and so Teresa and Aris weren't in love with Gally and Thomas respectively. The gang was currently standing at the back of Thomas, away from the portal.

Aris was standing beside Thomas, both looking at the nymphs.

"It's a portal. It'll take you back to where Cole found you." the witch said.

The dark haired nymph bows her head, "Thank you very much."

Aris nods at Thomas and returns back to stand beside the rest of the gang a few meters away from the portal. As the nymphs started entering the portal, the raven one stood behind to talk to Thomas.

"I'm glad you get to go back to your home." Thomas said.

"Yes, we're glad too." she looks apologetically at him, "We're sorry. It wasn't our intention to cause such havoc to you and your friends."

Thomas smiles and nods, "I know you didn't mean to hurt anyone."

The nymph returns his smile and taking a step forward grabs his hand, "You have a good heart, young man." she looks behind him at something, "And I hope your heart gets what it really wants."

Thomas, a little confused, turns his head back to see what she was looking. Her eyes were on Newt, who was looking -as well as the rest- at them. Thomas' face got red and he turned back to the nymph. The nymph smiles again; she closes the brunet's hand and brings it to his chest, right over his heart and let go. Thomas took a step back until he was with his friends. The nymph walked back to the portal and after waving goodbye at them she crossed it. Seconds later the portal closed with a whirl of wind.

Peaceful seconds passed and then Teresa turned to them,

"So, how bad was it? We didn't try to kill you or anything like that, right?"

"Well, you wanted to have Gally's babies." Minho said, making the raven girl groan ashamed.

Aris chuckled with a grin, "Oh, dear, you must feel like a complete idiot."

Gally just leans down until he's at Aris' level and says "And _you_ wanted to have Thomas' babies."

As he finishes saying that, Aris' face turns red. Teresa grinned and walked towards him with her hand on her back. The lighter brunet wasn't looking at her, his cheeks red. She stops until she's beside him, leaning her head towards him as she says,

"Oh, dear, you must feel like a complete idiot."

The gang chuckled at that. As they laughed at everything that had happened, Thomas glanced at Newt, who was covering his mouth in an attempt to silence his laughter as Aris tried to take off his cuff, with Gally trying to stop him. He felt he was being watch so he looked up at Thomas. Moments later he offered a small smile to the brunet and then went back to watch Aris and Gally. Thomas brought the hand the nymph had grabbed and remembered her words:

_"I hope your heart gets what it really wants."_

_'Me too.'_ he thought, _'Me too.'_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if you love me now, or if you are starting to loving me~  
> Either ways I'm happy!


	5. Lunatic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I'm back! And with another chapter!  
> I'm so SO glad you liked/loved the past chapter! I loved it too! And I really hope you like this one too!! Enjoy!

The night was chilly; you could see it at the way the trees were being blow and the people were covering themselves with a blanket at their homes, lying in their beds. But not everyone was sleeping in their beds.

At school, someone is thrown against the lockers, their back hitting hard the metal and the air is taken out of them. Gally groans as he stands back in his feet and with a dull pain in his back from the impact. He glares at the person standing a few meters away from him; the person who threw him against the lockers.

"You damned werewolf! You can only attack when no one is ready?!" he spats at the werewolf.

Coming out from the shadows, Thomas cracks his neck without his hands, his eyes closed as he does so. Once he's standing straight, he opens his eyes, glowing yellow replacing whiskey color. He opens his mouth too as he reveals his fangs, sharp enough to rip out a throat. His hands at his sides are not alone; claws were coming out of his fingers, barely touching his jeans.

Gally makes a beckoning sign with both hands to the brunet, taunting him.

"Come on! Make your worst."

Thomas growls and launches at him, but Gally was aiming for that, so he jumped to the side, making Thomas crash into the lockers. That gave him time to put distance between them; stretching his arm to the right in order to invoke his sword.

But before the sword can materialize in his hand, a slash is heard and then Gally screaming in pain as his right hand is thrown away onto the floor. Blood pours from his severed arm as he takes a step backwards, holding with his other hand his arm. His eyes fall on the severed hand lying on the ground in a puddle of blood and then back at Thomas' figure.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Thomas' eyes glow yellow again and that's when Gally starts running. Well, he tries. The blood loss makes him run slower each step he takes, his sight blurring, and his breaths ragged.

Just as he is about to stop and give up, his good arm is thrown over someone's shoulders and they help him.

"Come on!"

_Aris._

With Aris' help, they continue escaping and they manage to get into a classroom; once inside, Aris rests Gally against the wall. The dirty blond groans as his back makes contact with the cool wall. It hurt breathing.

Aris starts pacing around, "We need to find a way to get out of here. Thomas is a werewolf and he can track us from our scents and your blood. Damn it!" he bites his lips and kneels in front of Gally.

"Maybe make a run for the exit door?"

Aris shakes his head, "The exit is still far away from us."

"Yes. From _us_."

As Aris frowns in confusion, the tall blond grabs his arm and takes the cuff off. The lighter brunet looks into his eyes as he realizes what he meant.

"I'm not leaving you."

"Yes you are."

They hear a growl and the sound of claws against metal. The lockers.

"Go. Go!"

Aris sorrowly nods and goes to the back door, exiting through there and running as fast as he can to another classroom. He feels guilty for leaving Gally alone, but it was for the best. He keeps running, his eyes closed as he enters a classroom and closes the door behind him. He leans over the wall and takes air.

After several minutes he puts a hand to his chest, trying to normalize his ragged breaths. He looks at his cuff-free wrist. He has magic now; he has a chance against the werewolf. But he was more worried for Gally. If he could only find him again and get them out of the school-

An idea comes to his mind. "A tracking spell."

He invokes a vial and takes out Gally's car keys; he pours the liquid over the keys and they start glowing. Good. The only thing he needs to do is follow where the glowing tells him and he'll find Gally. He gets out of the classroom and quietly makes his way through the hallway. The keys continue glowing; he must be near. But just as he turns around the corner and takes three steps it's when they stop glowing.

It's impossible. The spell only stops glowing once you find the person you are looking for, or when they-

_No._

Just as he takes in a sharp breath, a shadow appears behind him. He feels a presence, so he slowly turns around and finds Thomas' eyes glowing back at him. He can't move from the fear and all that is heard are the keys as they fall to the ground.

 

* * *

 

Teresa turns her head around as she hears something metallic hitting the ground. _'Were those keys?'_ She continues walking through the hall, looking around in case she found someone. Or something. Just as she approaches the stairs she is startled by someone standing in the middle of the stairs. She almost doesn't see them.

"Thomas?"

The figure in the stairs doesn't answer, but it's obvious it's Thomas. Teresa starts going up the stairs,

"Thomas, what's wro-

She stops when she can see him clearer: she sees the blood in his hands and over the hem of his shirt. First she thinks it's his, but she doesn't see any fresh wound. Then it must be...

She gasps and with fear she looks at him and finds glowing yellow eyes staring back at her.

Just as the raven girl goes to open her mouth to scream, Thomas' clawed hand shots to her mouth; half of his fingers inside her mouth and she stills. Her eyes widen in fear, and she pleads with her eyes to him not to hurt her. But her pleads fall into deaf ears. Thomas growls as he retracts his arm back, ripping her tongue out in the process. Teresa stumbles back and falls over the stairs and on the cold ground as blood pours out of her mouth. She brings a hand to barely touch her throat, her whole body trembling as she losses more and more blood. Thomas takes a step away and lets the tongue slip from his fingers, smacking on the floor. He just stares as Teresa stretches a hand to his direction, as if asking for him to help her even though he's the one who's done that to her.

He doesn't bother to look back at her as he leaves her alone lying on the floor, choking in her own blood.

 

* * *

 

Running steps could be heard along the hallways. Sneakers hitting the ground, hard. Minho turned around the corner, almost colliding with the wall as he did so. Not so far behind him was Thomas, following after his friend. He was a good runner, but Thomas had werewolf skills. You couldn't win against werewolf skills.

Sweat dripped from his face, some of it falling into his eyes but that didn't stop him. Nothing could stop him. He didn't even knew where he was running to, he just knew he had to get away from the brunet werewolf.

He glanced back and didn't saw Thomas, but he knew he was near. At any second he could be right at his side. He continued running, adrenaline pumping in his veins. He dared to glance back and that's when the brunet grabs him by the throat. The raven male's hands go instinctively to the werewolf's ones, trying to fight him off. But Thomas wasn't going to let go of him that easily, so he had to try another thing. He jabs Thomas in the eye and the brunet let go of him, throwing him away on the floor.

Minho falls face-first on the floor. He doesn't lose time in looking back, so he start crawling over the floor using his arms, his torso and legs apparently not listening to him anymore, paralyzed by the fear. His heart was pumping in his ear as he heard the other getting closer to him. Then, before he could even reach a classroom or the corner, a clawed hand curls around his ankle and starts dragging him over the floor. Minho tries to crawl away but it's futile; he digs his nails into the floor and lets out a last desperate yell as he's dragged into the nearest classroom and the door closes behind them.

 

* * *

 

Newt looks at the left after hearing what appeared to be screaming. He feels his heart beating fast and his hands sweat. He's hiding at the second floor in one of the classroom, pacing around while trying to figure out what was he gonna do. He doesn't know what happened to the others. He can't just leave! Besides, he's far from the exit. He has his magic, though. While deciding what to do, he bites his lips and looks up at the top of the board where a mirror was hanged. He looks up and sees in the reflection a pair of yellow eyes looking back at him. Sucking air, he turns to face the door and takes a step back, seeing the figure standing outside the classroom. As he continues to step back, the door opens, letting the person from outside enter the classroom.

_"Thomas."_

The brunet werewolf stood there in the moonlight rays, bathed in blood. His arms were at his sides, claws out and touching the jeans, leaving red stains on them. At this rate, Newt almost had his back against the board, a few good distance between them. Newt could use an spell, something that could stop Thomas for at least a couple of seconds as he ran to the stairs. But he couldn't move; not with those yellow eyes staring back at him. Newt steps back while looking at the person- no, the creature in front of him. His back touches the board and his breath hitches. That's when Thomas starts walking towards him, so slowly that it makes Newt tremble. He's sure he has tears going down his face, but he can't bring himself to use magic against him. He closes is eyes for a moment, and when he opens them again he finds the room empty.

Making a run for the door, he feels his eyes sting because of the tears and his heart pumping over his ears. He runs for the door, trying to make his escape but just as he's three steps away from the door, he feels a presence behind him. He stops dry. Slowly turning around, he sees a bestial figure which lunges at him with a feral growl. The last thing that is heard is a terrified scream and everything fades black.

 

* * *

 

Thomas sits upright in his bed, drenched in cold sweat. His heart is pounding, thumping hard against his chest. He brings a hand to his shirt, right where his heart is and pants for air. That dream had felt too vivid he thought for a second that if he weren't in his bed right now, he would thought that it did happen. But it hadn't been a dream.

It had been a nightmare.

That's the only word he could use to describe it. A nightmare.

He closed his eyes and swallowed hard, trying to normalize his breathing. Once he opened his eyes, he glanced at the calendar: two more days for the full moon.

Great. As if he didn't had enough to worry about with this nightmare.

 

* * *

 

At the morning, Thomas woke up and stared at the ceiling for a couple of minutes before his alarm went off. He hadn't been able to sleep well after he woke up from his nightmare; and now he had to go to school in a zombie-like state. Sighing, he threw the covers away and sat up on his bed, his eyes falling at the calendar on his wall. The full moon was closer, and he still was learning how to control it.

After everything that had happened the past days (the dick of a werewolf Cole, the nymphs and other creatures escaping and being loose in town), Thomas had no other choice than to tell Mary and Vince about Aris and Newt being witches and them -including Minho, Teresa and Gally- knowing about Thomas. They had been surprised about that -they didn't see it coming-, and also they were mad at the young werewolf for not telling them about the dangerous situation with Cole and what happen afterwards.

Grabbing his backpack from his desk, he exited his room and went downstairs, approaching the kitchen where Mary and Vince were already waiting for him.

Mary smiled at him, "Good morning, Thomas."

"Morning," he sat on the chair, putting his backpack on the ground.

"Did you slept well?"

"Not really..." he mumbles.

The two adults exchange looks. Vince picks up his mug and takes a sip before being the first to talk.

"So, as you might notice, in two days is the full moon."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"So you'll understand that you won't be going to school the next day after that?"

"Really?" he asked with a big smile, but as soon as Mary turned to him, he pouted like he was disappointed, "Really?"

"I feel your sorrow, Thomas." Mary said not buying it, "But it's the way it has to be. You'll stay at your room the whole day and night, trying to focus on your human side, oh, and you won't be able to see your friends."

"But-

"Even if they know about you, they can't be here. It's too dangerous."

Vince nods, "Mary's right. You don't know how to control it, alas you can't control your actions and you might hurt someone." he brings his coffee to his lips, "Or kill." and takes a sip.

Thomas' eyes widen, _"Kill?!"_

"Or hurt!" intervenes the woman. "Hurt, honey. Right, Vince?" she sends a look to the man.

Vince looks at the brunet and raises his mug, "...Sure."

Thomas sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. Great, he'll try to kill anyone who is around him. _Just great._ Not wanting to hear more of it, he stands up and grabs his backpack, ready to turn and leave.

"Hey," called Vince, "we want you here after school, ok? I'm not going to be here, but Mary will, so behave."

"Sure."

And with that he left.

 

* * *

 

Over school, just as Thomas was entering the building and walking over the hallway he remembered he didn't had any breakfast. He groaned. He had been so worried about the nightmare he had that he didn't noticed he didn't had anything to eat. And he was hungry! He arrived to his locker and hits his head over the metal door, closing his eyes for a moment. Maybe after his first class he could go and get something... if he had any money. _Damn!_ As he cursed himself in silence he smelled cinnamon and raised his head to see Newt approaching. He felt his chest rattling. They hadn't talk about the kiss -when the nymphs- and Thomas didn't want to make it awkward, so he didn't say anything. But god, he wanted so bad to ask... He swallowed everything and focused on the boy approaching him.

Newt tilts his head, "Bad night?"

"You have no idea..." he groans, "Ugh, and besides that I didn't had anything for breakfast."

"Here," he opens his satchel and takes out a chip cookie brownie in its wrapper, "You can have this."

"But it's yours."

"Yeah, but I brought two." at the same time he says that, he takes out another snack, showing it to the brunet.

Thomas smiles and gladly he takes one. "Thanks. You saved my life."

"Yeah, wouldn't want you be hungry and go attack someone." he said as a joke.

Thomas paled at that. Thoughts about the kiss or anything else completely forgotten. He remembered his nightmare and swallowed. He was worried about that. And especially the full moon.

_"Thomas?"_

The brunet looked up at Newt, and found him looking at him with a worried face. He licked his lips, "Eh, sorry. I, uh, have to go to class. Thanks again for the-" he raises the brownie as he starts walking away, "yeah. Gotta go."

"Thomas."

"What?"

"Aren't you gonna take your books out?" asks Newt looking at his unopened locker.

Thomas' eyes follow his at his locker. Oh, right. "Oh, yeah. Sure, silly me." he walked back to his locker and unlocked it, trying to ignore the blond's eyes on him.

"Well... I have to go to class. I want to choose a seat away from the window. I don't want the sun right on my face when I'm trying to concentrate." he waves, "See you later,"

"Bye,"

Thomas watches as he leaves. He looks down at the brownie and smiles. Maybe everything would be alright. Maybe he was just exaggerating things.

 

* * *

 

After the bell rang for lunch, Minho had told Thomas to meet him at the tables outside the school -since they couldn't eat in the library- so that's where Thomas was right now, tray with half eaten food on the table. He was looking around when he heard a voice calling him,

"Hey, Thomas! Thomas!" he turned and saw Minho running towards him, balancing his tray and a couple of books on his arms. He managed to get to the table.

"Hey... What's that?"

Minho sits on table, just in front of Thomas, and puts his tray away. "Did you knew that there's a full moon-

"Yeah, I know. How did you know?"

"Because if my best friend is a werewolf, then I think I least have to known about stuff, you know? So, I've been doing my research and I found some good books that might help." he says opening the brown book.

"Why didn't you ask Aris for them?"

Minho stays still for a moment, actually processing why indeed he didn't do that in the first place.

"Huh, didn't thought about that. Anyway," Thomas rolls his eyes, "Hear this," he clears his throat and starts reading, "Most werewolves have a trigger that makes them transform. For example, if a werewolf is in human form and it gets to hyper, it will transform. Other triggers are: getting too angry, getting hurt, getting too much adrenaline, or to protect something or someone." he stops and looks up at Thomas, "Great. So all we have to do is to avoid making you angry, getting hurt, or care for someone else."

Thomas groans.

"I know!" says the other with a big smile, already excited. "And there's a whole section for witches, and spells, and that stuff. _OH!_ " he gasps, "Here's a section about 'scents'. Ohh, I want to learn about that! It says here that-

"Yeah, yeah, I know about that."

Minho stops reading and looks at his best friend. "Really?" Thomas nods. "So you mean you know how to differentiate between scents?"

"Kind of. Everyone has their unique scent."

"Okay," he seems to think about it before a grin appears on his face, "Let's do a little test! To know how good you really are and to know that if you are not bluffing. What does Vince smell like?"

Thomas thought about it for a seconds before answering, "Redwood and pepper."

"Wow. And Mary?"

Thomas smiles, "Like the lavender that grows in the back of the garden."

"Okay. And me?"

Thomas groans, trying to turn around but his friend stopped him, "No-no. You are going to tell me! Come on!"

Thomas looks at his shoes, kicking the dirt off them. "Freshly mown grass and a rainy day."

"Wow. That sounds so gay, but hey, who am I to judge?" he says with a shrug. Thomas rolls his eyes, ignoring him. As he does that, Minho grabs his backpack and takes something out, holding it in front of the brunet, "Okay. What about this?" Thomas perceives the scent of cinnamon and looks up at the cinnamon cookie that Minho was holding, "Who has a scent like this?"

Thomas stares at the cookie and something inside him moves. Of course he knows whose scent that was. He would have to be dead an even after that he would never forget.

"Newt,"

Minho smiles and then eats the cookie. "Good boy." he wipes his hands, "Well, it appears that you know your stuff, but I'm still worried about the full moon. We're gonna need to do something about that."

"Yeah."

"But don't worry, I'll help you out."

"Thanks," as Minho keeps the books inside his backpack, Thomas starts thinking about something and he frowns for a moment, "Wait a minute." Minho looks at him, "You said you wanted to test me, to know that I wasn't lying, but you just asked me how each person smelled to me. If you really wanted to 'test' me you would have taken stuff with people's scent and have me guess who it belong to!" his eyes widen as he points at his best friend, "You just wanted to know what was your scent!"

"And you just noticed that until we finished?" he snorts, "Man, nothing gets past those keen werewolf senses, huh?"

Thomas knows he's teasing him but he looks down thinking. Even thought he felt like he didn't had to worry about it, he also felt that something bad could happen. He may know things like scents and that, but he hasn't actually learned the basic things. He feels a hand over his shoulder and looks at Minho, who is offering his a sincere look.

"Hey, we'll get through this. Come on, if I have to, I'll chain you up myself on full moon nights and feed you live mice."

"Min! That's disgusting!"

"Hey! I'm not the one who will turn into a fury beast whenever I see the moon!"

 

* * *

 

School came to an end and everyone left to their houses. After Thomas arrived at his house, the whole afternoon went by peaceful. He ate with Mary and Vince, did his homework and played videogames. He hadn't felt off during all day; that was a good sign, right?

At night after taking a long hot shower, Thomas came out of the bathroom already in a black shirt and boxers. He threw the towel over the chair of his desk and went directly to the bed. He plopped down on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Just one more day. Just one more day..."

He turned to his side to turn off the light and then back to his original position. He sighed and closed his eyes. Tomorrow would be a new day.

 

* * *

 

Remember what Thomas said about not feeling anything weird and that he might be overreacting? Well, never listen to him again.

The first thing he did after he woke up was run to the bathroom and was his face with cold water. He started coughing and panting, his heartbeat running wild. He glanced at his reflection and he saw his eyes glowing yellow; he opened his mouth and with his tongue he felt his fangs.

Coming from downstairs he heard Mary calling for him,

_"Thomas? Are you having breakfast?"_

He turned his head to the door and yelled "In a minute!" before he turned back to the mirror and saw that he was back to normal. No glowing eyes, no fangs. Even his heartbeat was normal. What had happened? Was it because of the full moon?

Minutes later he went downstairs all dressed up, walking to the kitchen and plopping down on the chair, throwing his backpack to the floor.

Vince glanced at the backpack, "Why the backpack?"

"For school."

"Aren't you adorable? You're not going."

Thomas frowns, "Wha- Why-

"Today's the full moon, Thomas. There's no way in hell you're going." he looked behind Thomas as Mary came down already dressed in her nurse uniform. "Going already?"

"Yeah, maybe 'till ten o'clock." she looked at the brunet, "Thomas, listen, not matter what happens, remember you are stronger, okay? Everything will be alright." she looks at Vince, who is taking a sip from his coffee, "Don't forget to keep an eye on him, and to chain him, okay?"

"Please, woman. Not my first time with a werewolf."

"Sure it isn't." she grabbed her car keys, kissed the top of Thomas' head and went to the door. "I'll be back at ten! Take care!" and she left.

Thomas turned back at Vince, who was staring back at him.

"It seems it's only you and I, pal."

Thomas groaned and smashed his forehead on the table. Vince chuckled, taking a sip from his coffee as he muttered _'Teenagers...'_

After Thomas spent the school hours doing anything else to keep himself busy without having to go out, finally his clock rang, annunciating that the school day had ended and that his friends were free. He had somehow managed to convince Vince to let him out to just spend a couple of hours with them, and that then he would come back before it got dark. Vince didn't exactly had to go at work at this hour. He used to be the sheriff, but a problem happened and they took off his badge. But at least he's still working as the second in command of the sheriff, who may or not be a asshole. So as he didn't had anything else to do, he had said yes, but they couldn't tell Mary.

Gally and Aris had picked him up together with the rest and they all went to -for the first time- to Gally and Aris house. The truth was that Thomas had asked Aris if he had something that could help him with the full moon. The lighter brunet witch had told him he did, but it was back in the house, so that's where they were going.

Once they arrived, they all climb out of the truck and followed the pair to the house and wow. Minho was the one who broke the silence,

_"This is your house?!"_

The big house -or maybe even a mansion- had an English Colonial style; it was painted white with black and had an entrance with a big arch.

Teresa smiled at the house, "Who did you have to rob to get it?"

Aris chuckled, "What? We didn't steal it. It's ours."

"How-

Realizing the obvious answer, Minho rolled his eyes and at the same time he and Aris answered _"Magic."_

"Yeah, I thought so."

Aris grinned. "Come on in."

With that they approached the big house.

Gally opened the door and entered first, followed by Aris, Minho, Teresa and Newt. Thomas is about to enter too when suddenly he can't. He stops and looks around, slightly confused. He tries again but it's like there's something preventing him from entering. Newt turns to say something to Thomas when he notices he's not behind him, but rather sees that Thomas stays outside, looking around the entrance. The rest of them stop and looks at him. Thomas has a frown on his face as he looks down at the dark line on the entrance... something... something familiar.

"You can't pass, can't you?" asks Aris.

Thomas looks at him and shakes his head, "No."

"It's mountain ash. No supernatural creature can cross it, remember?" he approaches the entrance, crouches down and without even touching it, he breaks the line of mountain ash. He stands up again, "Come in,"

Thomas looks back at him with an uncertain look in his face. Inquisitively he takes a step forward, putting his foot inside the house, _oh_ , he's inside the house. He looks back at the broken line of mountain ash and then back at the gang.

"Shall we continue?" asked Aris.

They all followed him to the living room where there were big bookshelves filled with jars and vials. Just like the ones in Cole's house. They trembled at that thought. Aris seemed to read their minds as he said,

"Don't worry, they're just herbs and stuff."

They all let out a relieved sigh. As they approach the table Thomas takes a step closer to Aris,

"So which one is it?" he asks.

Aris looks at him and tilts his head, "I beg your pardon?"

"Which jar or vial? Which one... you know." the lighter brunet frown with a bit of confusion, "I...I thought you said that you had something to help me."

"Something to help you out?" Thomas nods, "You're a werewolf, dear.  There's no spell that can _'help you'_ during full moons." he turns to the rest, "But I do have something for the rest of you."

Minho, Teresa and Newt all frown in confusion.

Aris turns around and standing in front of one bookshelf he grabs a small vial with something black inside, like powder or sand. Mountain ash!

"When the night falls and this one," he points at Thomas, "decides he might wanna go for a walk without his leash, you're gonna need some kind of protection." he taps the lid of the vial, "You're going to have to put mountain ash on your door entrance to be safe."

Teresa is the first to talk, "Wait. What about the rest of the town?"

Aris frowns, "What about them?"

"Aren't they gonna be vulnerable?"

"Well, what do you suggest?"

"Maybe we could mark all the doors."

Minho intervenes. "Mark all the doors? What is this, the 10th plague of Egypt? We are not marking every freaking door of the town."

Teresa looks at him incredulous, "I can't believe it. How can you not care?"

"Like this," he gives a shrug, making the raven girl huff.

"Wait." says Thomas, "Why are they gonna be the only ones to put mountain ash over their houses?"

"Didn't your guardians told you that you might wanna kill your friends in a full moon?"

"...Well, they said I might attack some people if I was out while the full moon, but it means everyone, right?"

"True, but with these guys you are more likely to attack them. You've been surrounded by them this past days,"

Thomas frowns, "Doesn't it mean that you too will be vulnerable?"

"Sorry to break it to you, but we're not friends. We're allies. And besides," he raises another jar, "I have my own mountain ash."

Gally took a step forward, arms crossed and asked Thomas "Do you have a plan for tonight?"

"Actually," he looks behind at Minho, who nods at him, "We do."

After Aris told them how to carefully make the mountain ash line they all left back to their own houses; Minho had first to make a stop over his house for his phone charger, and then went with Thomas. Back at the mansion, coming out of the bathroom, Gally was turning around when a jar filled with eyes was held right in front of his face. It was so unexpected that Gally couldn't help but to be startled,

"What the fu-

Aris was smiling -more like grinning- at him while holding the jar, "I found another item on the list."

"And you couldn't wait until I was completely out of the bathroom?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Gally rolls his eyes at him. "So apparently Cole had some Goblin eyes."

"Goblin eyes?"

"Yeah."

"No goblins?"

"Nope," he grins, "I think that's a good thing, don'tcha?"

Gally just nods. At least there was something in the list that they weren't supposed to catch. He frowns. "Wait, if the jars broke when the bookshelves fell then how come this jar is whole and safe and still with the eyes?"

"Because I had some stash underneath my bed, and I knew I recognized the letters written in the list." with that he walked towards the desk at the corner of the room.

"Why did you do that?"

Aris puts the goblin's eyes over the desk, his back still to Gally, "I already apologized. Geez, give me a break."

"You did not apologize, and I was not talking about that." Aris stays still, his back still to Gally, "You said to Thomas that we weren't friends, yet you are willing to help with the list and the creatures from the list."

"Well, it was partially my fault. What's wrong with wanting to take some responsibility?"

"Because you aren't like that. You didn't had to warn them about the full moon, nor give them the mountain ash." he crosses his arms, "And that makes me think... if maybe, just maybe, you do consider them as anything more than 'allies'?"

"I already told you." Aris turns around, facing him, "I don't do friends."

Gally didn't say anything else; he turned around and walked outside the room.

 

* * *

 

The sun was down in no time, and soon it was dark outside. Minho and Thomas were at the brunet's room playing videogames was if everything was normal when Vince opened the door.

"Hey, Minho, you're gonna have to leave now. I have to, uh, leave actually." the two teenagers frown, "The guys at the station need me over to check on some files, but it won't take long, just maybe a couple of hours. But the point is you can't be here alone when Thomas transforms." he glanced at his watch.

"But Vince-

Minho interrupted him, "Don't worry, sir, I'm gonna tie him up and then I'll leave."

Vince looked kind of uncertain, but he looked back at his watch and cursed. "Okay, okay! But you finish and then you leave, okay? And not a word to Mary!" the other two nodded and he went to his room, grabbing his car keys and yelling as he made his way downstairs, "I'm serious, Thomas! He can't stay!" and then the sound of the door closing.

Thomas heard him getting inside his car and then driving away. They both stayed on top of the bed not moving at all for almost a full minute before Thomas spoke,

"You're gonna stay, right?"

"All night."

"Thanks,"

"Just try not to kill me."

A few hours later, Thomas found himself being chained to the radiator. He was sitting down on the floor next to the window, staring at his wrist as his best friend made sure it was tight enough to hold him but not to hurt him.

Minho was finishing the left hand as Thomas spoke,

"If something happens and you think the chains won't resist, you run. As fast and far you can. And remember: Do not unchain me until the morning. No matter what I say or how much I beg."

Minho nods, "Got it." and takes a step back.

"Oh oh, I've got to go to the bathroom."

"Too bad."

"Just testing." he smiles at Minho, "Thanks,"

"No problem. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't chain you in the full moons and made sure you didn't eat half of the town?"

Thomas snorts.

"So, do you feel anything?"

"What'd you mean?"

Minho shrugs, "You know... Wanting to change? Kill someone? Howl to the moon?"

"Not really."

"Maybe nothing will happen. You know, as if when you're doing exercise and you feel great and nothing hurts, but then the next day you can't even get up from bed? Maybe since it's your first full moon it will be alright."

"Yeah, I hope so."

Thomas really thought this could work. Maybe Minho was right and since this was his first full moon maybe nothing would happen. And besides, he would have his best friend with him during the whole night and that calmed him a little. Of course karma's a bitch and it probably hated Thomas as his best friend's phone rang. Minho took out his phone and read the text he received. Moments later his eyebrows frowned and he groaned,

_"Dammit."_

"What? What is it?"

"I need to go." with that he turned to the desk, grabbing his house keys.

Thomas panicked a moment. Why was he leaving? Did he back out of their plan? Was he really afraid that Thomas could kill him tonight?

Minho seemed to notice the distress in his friend's eyes as he approached the other. "Okay, listen. I'm not running away from you, yeah? I'll be right back. Okay, Thomas? I really need to go, trust me I wouldn't do it if it weren't an emergency but my little sister is sick and my parents need me to watch over her." he runs to the door and turns back to his friend, " _Just_ \- stay here!"

Thomas just stares at him and holds up his chained hand.

"...Right. Sorry."

And with that he runs to the stairs and out of the house. Thomas stays on the floor, letting out a sigh as he looks at his wrist. This was going to be a long night. He didn't even felt off anymore. He didn't knew why Mary and Vince had been so worried about the full moon; he didn't felt anything. Just as he said that, the moon started showing over the sky and through his window.

Minho practically made the taxi fly towards his house. He ran to the entrance of his house and opened the door, almost tripping in his way inside. He closed the door and heard his dog -a German Shepherd- barking from the backyard.

"Judge! Shut it!" he yelled as he made his way upstairs, towards his parents room. He opened the door and found his little sister resting over the bed, his mom ([x](http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/teen-wolf/images/8/83/Noshiko.png/revision/latest?cb=20140727202229&path-prefix=pl)) sitting beside her and putting her hand over her forehead. "Judge is acting weird." he said as he entered the room.

"It must be the full moon." his mom said.

 _'You have no idea.'_ he thought, and then remember Thomas. Right, he was in a hurry. "How's Kira?"

"She's asleep now, but I'm pretty sure it's a cold. Could you please go and get me the thermometer?"

Minho claps, ready to turn around and leave, "Okay, it's in my room. You can go over there and-

"Whoa, whoa! Hey-" Minho stops, "Where do you think you're going?"

"I was... I need to go..."

"Go get me the thermometer."

"But I-

His mom gives him a look, "Please, go for the thermometer."

Minho sighs in defeat, "Alright."

He runs to his bedroom, opening the door and looking around his room. _'Where the hell did I left that thing? Ugh, I don't have time for this!'_ He goes to his bathroom and starts checking there but nothing. He exits the bathroom and once more looks around his room. Judge was still barking loudly in the backyard. He walks to his nightstand and starts checking there but nothing. The next thing he searches is his desk; he starts rummaging through his stuff inside the drawers and finally finds it. He takes it out triumphantly, but at the same time he does so, his open window makes something shine over his desk. His eyes fall on the still full vial of mountain ash over his desk.

"Oh, crap."

 

* * *

 

Thomas was feeling dizzy. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate in something that wasn't the pain spreading over his body. He started feeling like in the morning but worst. His heart was beating fast, so fast he could feel it pressing over his chest and he could hear it on his ears. He could feel his hands cracking and bending into an unnatural way. He could now feel his nails lengthen, and he tried to keep them clamped onto his arms but they only grew to the point that they drew blood. He growled and felt the fangs in his mouth. They were sharp, enough that if he were to bite someone he would probably rip them to shreds.

Why was he thinking in rip someone to shreds? In the way their blood would feel in his hands-

_'Stop it!'_

He tried to calm down and looked up at the window. The moon was brighter in the sky and the soft rays of moon were now entering the room through the window. And as if they were toxic, Thomas tried to stay away from them, not wanting the moonlight to touch him in any way but it was futile; he was chained and he couldn't run away, so he just tugged at the chain around the radiator, trying to break it. A part of him told him 'no', but the other part told him to get the hell away from there and go outside. He continued to tug at the chains, the handcuff starting to cut into his skin and drawing blood.

He tried to steady his breathing but instead, he threw his head back and howled. Seconds later, the sound of the chain falling to the floor was heard and then the room was completely empty, the window left open and Thomas nowhere in sight.

 

* * *

 

At Gally and Aris' mansion, the tall dirty blond was at the couch over the living room watching TV. Aris was sitting with his legs up to his chest over the window seat reading a book, but he seemed distracted: he wasn't reading anymore, he was just staring at the pages while supporting his head on his hand. He was also tapping the floor with his right foot that was dangling, which at this point was bothering the other guy. Gally tries to ignore it but decides to risk it all and with a sigh he asks,

"I can hear the high-pitch whine from your IQ all the way over here. What is it?"

Aris looks at him, and then back at the book on his lap. "I was thinking... about the full moon and Thomas."

"...Okay?"

"And remember that I gave the guys mountain ash to protect them in case something went wrong?"

"Yeah?"

Aris huffs and stands up, putting the book on the seat and walking towards the phone. He picks it up and starts dialing a number, "I just need to call them to see if they put the mountain ash." he puts the phone over his ear, and doesn't hear when Gally says _'Don't do friends, my ass.'_

The line starts ringing, and he waits for the other person to answer. A female voice comes,

_"Hello?"_

"Teresa, it's Aris. Did you put the mountain ash around your house?"

_"Yeah, half-hour ago."_

"Great. Just checking." he hangs up and calls Minho's number. Almost instantly he answers, "Minho?"

_"Yeah?"_

"It's Aris. Did you put the mountain ash?"

_"I'm just finishing. Why?"_

"Just checking." he hangs up again without saying anything else.

Gally raises an eyebrow, "It won't kill you say 'goodbye', you know?"

"Shh!" he has the phone over his ear, pacing around the room as he waits for Newt to pick up the phone. The tall dirty blond sees as the witch stops walking, hand lowering the phone until he's looking at it with a worried face.

The dirty blond frowns, "What?"

"It's Newt." he looks at Gally, "He's not answering."

 

* * *

 

Over the blond's house, Newt was showering over his bathroom at his room, the door closed and his cell phone lying on bed. Newt doesn't hear his phone ringing because of the water falling in the shower. Back over his bedroom, a shadow is seen lurking over his closed window. As he continues showering, he closes his eyes as the water falls over his face and doesn't sees the shadow passing beside the curtain and disappearing at the same moment when he opens his eyes. He turns and looks at the curtain, having sensed something but he ignores it.

He finishes showering and a couple of minutes later he gets out of the bathroom already dressed in long pants and white shirt. He's drying his hair with the towel when he feels cold chills and turns around to see his window open. He frowns.

_'I thought I closed it.'_

He shrugs and walks towards the window, leaning outside to see around his house. There's nothing -or no one- there; he closes the window. His hands are still holding the frame of the window when he feels something underneath them. He moves his hands aside and sees that the wood over there had some marks on each side. Newt frowns. They were kind of deep; he traces them, his fingers falling in place with the marks as if they-

Claw marks.

He looks up and sees the moon shining bright and it takes almost five seconds for everything to connect and he let a name spill from his lips,

"Thomas."

 

* * *

 

Newt parked his car in front of Thomas' house. He knew it was a bad idea, but he had to make sure Thomas was still there and not set wild in town. Also he wanted to make sure he was fine. Getting out of his car, he walked towards the house and noticed the lack of cars, but he decided not to worry about that. Once standing in front of the door, with a swift of his wrist he opened the door; he cautiously entered the house, closing the door behind and looked around. The place was empty and in complete silence, and totally dark. Not even a light on, which only made it look scarier. Approaching the stairs he heard some rustling coming from upstairs.

_'Was that Thomas? He better be.'_

Taking air and bracing himself, he started going upstairs. Each step he took made his heart going faster, but he tried to calm it down. Once he was in the other floor, he heard a growl coming from the end of the hall, where a room was with the door ajar. That must be Thomas' room, he thought. He glanced at the end of the other side of the hall and went towards the room. The rustling got clearer as he approached the room, and then he was standing in front of the door. He still could leave; he still could back out. He shook his thoughts and with trembling hands he grabbed the knob and pushed the door open.

At first sight the room looked normal, but again, the room was covered in darkness so Newt couldn't really see anything. Then what had been that noise he heard before? His imagination? Newt was about to turn around but he spotted two glowing yellow eyes in the dark. He took one step back when he heard a growl and Thomas' face appear, which was now lit by the moon; he could see his sharp fangs and his claws out. Over his face he could also see the pointy ears and the hair. Surprisingly, he was chained to the radiator.

"Thomas..." he took a step forward, but the brunet took a step back.

"Why did you came?!" roared the brunet, tugging at the chains.

"I- I thought you had come to my house and I got worried that you could be outside and in danger-" he sees the way Thomas is looking away, "You were at my house, weren't you?" he's not actually asking; he knows the brunet had been there.

"There was no mountain ash to keep me out. What were you thinking?" reproaches the werewolf. He shakes his head, "You shouldn't have come! It was a stupid decision!" he fell to the ground on his knees, tugging at his hair while growling.

"Thomas, just try to focus. Did you hear me? Focus on anything else, you can do it." Newt jumped back slightly when Thomas pulled on the chain roughly and growled at him loudly. "I know you can! You escaped your chains but you came back here and put them back. You did it because you don't want to hurt anyone!"

Thomas shook his head, "I can't- I can't control it..." he panted and pulled again on the chains, a crack starting to form along the wall. Newt didn't care about that right now. He was more worried about Thomas. He could see the lightning of the room has changed as the full moon has brightened up the dark room and could see Thomas in another light. The brunet guy was restraining himself from getting closer to Newt, clawing at his arms while trying to keep control. "...I don't want to..I don't want to hurt you... Go.. _go, Newt!_ " Thomas' whole body shook and he growled.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving you." he looks around for something he could use, but when he doesn't find anything useful, he looks at his hand. He nods at himself and approaches Thomas, who can only stare at him.

"What..are you doing?"

"I don't think you need them." and with a swift of his wrist, the chains opened and fell to the floor in a loud 'thud'. Newt smiled at him, "It's okay. You won't hurt me."

They stood there, staring at each other without moving. Newt thought that for a moment he had made the right choice to come here to check on Thomas, but then Thomas opened his mouth, revealing his fangs as he growled and launched to Newt, tackling him to the ground. He fell on his back, his hands on each side of his head, and with Thomas above him, pinning him with his body. For a moment, Newt's only thought was that he was going to die, his heart beating faster than ever. But Thomas didn't do anything; he just stood there above him, arms on each side of his head and eyes glued to his. Slowly after calculating his movements, he raised a hand and the werewolf followed it, as if checking he wasn't going to hurt him or something. Slowly, Newt brought a hand to lie on Thomas' head, petting him in an attempt to calm him.

"It's okay, it's okay." his fingers started playing with chocolate locks, "it's okay, Tommy."

Miraculously, Thomas rested his head over Newt's chest, as he had decided he like what the blond was doing so Newt continued playing with his hair.

Maybe it was because there was a werewolf on top of him on a full moon, but the minutes seemed like hours. He wasn't afraid; his heart beats could prove it. Thomas hadn't made a single move since he threw himself at Newt, nor a single noise. Was he asleep? Was he unconscious?

Newt dared to turn his head slightly to the side and saw Thomas' hand. His eyes widened at what he saw: instead of claws there was a normal hand lying on the floor. He turned his head to the other side and saw that his other hand was the same. Looking at the front where the top of Thomas head was, he could see that the pointy ears were gone too, as well as the hair on his face.

He had managed to go back to human.

He glanced at the window and saw that the moon was still out. Licking his lips he tried something,

"Thomas?"

He felt him move. Slightly, but he moved. So he tried again.

"Thomas?"

A whole minute passed before Thomas raised his face and indeed he no longer had any of the werewolf features... but his eyes were closed. Newt's other hand that had been lying on the floor reached up to Thomas' face, slightly touching at the corner of his eyes as if trying to say to the brunet to show him his eyes.

He might've gotten the message, because seconds later after Newt dropped his hand back on the floor, Thomas slowly opened his eyes, no more glowing yellow, just pure whiskey color. Newt smiled in relief. Thomas didn't smile, but he did lay his head down on the blond's chest, deciding to rest again. His wolf was happy and wanted to stay that way for as long as he could.

 

* * *

 

The next morning over 7 a.m. a car parked at Thomas' house; it was Mary's car. She was just arriving from work, and she felt so tired she could practically sleep all day. Mary eyed the other car parked there and frowned. She didn't know who it belonged to. As she came out of her car, she saw Vince's car park beside hers too. He comes out and they stare at each other.

"I thought you had stayed with Thomas." she said, pointing at him with her car keys on hand.

Vince pursed his lips, "No. The station needed me to check some files, and it took more time than we thought it would."

"Then who stayed with Thomas?"

Their eyes widen in realization, and not losing time they sprang to the door, opening it and closing it behind them. They ran upstairs and towards Thomas' bedroom, finding the door ajar. Worry began to wash over them as they went to open the door; they push the door open and entered the room.

The first thing they saw was that the chains were open and over the floor instead of wrapped around Thomas' wrists. The other thing was that the window was open, so that could have been Thomas' way out of the house. They were about to freak out because Thomas' had escaped his chains and he could be anywhere by now and might be in trouble when they saw a mop of blond hair on the other side of the bed. Slowly, they approached the bed and stopped once they got to the side, looking at the scene in front of them:

Newt sitting on the floor with his back resting against the bed, legs stretched forward and eyes closed, his head hanging to the front. Thomas was lying curled on his side, his head resting over the blond's lap; one of his hands had snuck to Newt's waist, curled lightly around it. The blond's hand was resting over Thomas' mop of brown hair, as if he had been petting him. They were profoundly asleep, judging by the sound of their breathing and the moves of their chests. Both Mary and Vince smiled in awe at the two guys.

"We should call the school and tell them they can't go today." Mary said in a whisper.

"Tell them they got sick because of your food. That's believable."

A chuckle, "You're horrible."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aris and Gally's house looks kind like this: http://hookedonhouses.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/real-life-exterior-of-house.jpg
> 
> -Creatures found: 0.  
> -Ingredients/other stuff: 1 - Goblin eyes.
> 
> -Number of jars: 15.  
> -Jars obtained 'till now: 5.  
> *Nymphs - 3 jars.  
> *Mountain ash - 1 jar.  
> *Goblin eyes - 1 jar.


	6. Ch-ch-ch-changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! It's Halloween already! I can't believe it! Are you doing something tonight? My 4 year-old niece went ot trick or treating as a pirate/witch with my sister (her mom), so I'm alone at my house watching horror movies with my cat :)  
> I hope you spend a marvelous halloween~
> 
> Okay, so before you begin to read this chapter I must say something:  
> So there is no confusion, until they change back into their bodies, it's gonna be Aris (Newt) which means it's Newt in Aris' body. And Newt (Aris) which means Aris in Newt's body. Got it? Hope it's not too confusing. Just in the first part (when they discover they've change) this rule doesn't aply.

The afternoon was calm, the orange sky painting a peaceful atmosphere in the town. Except the mood was broken when a blue, vaguely, chameleon-like creature with great, orange eyes jumps out of the woods and high in the sky, before landing on the ground. As it looked around, footsteps were heard coming from the woods. Aris appeared a few feet away from the creature. The chameleon-like creature turned his eyes towards him and started running away.

"Newt, it's going towards you! Get it!" he yelled as he went after the creature.

As the creature ran, the blond witch appeared on the other side, right in front of it.

"You're not going anywhere!"

The blue creature jumped high above him and ran away, but Newt followed it. Thomas and the rest were a little far behind them, but they would get there in time. Meanwhile, it was all up to Newt and Aris. As the creature ran with Newt following him, the brunet witch magically appeared a few steps away from them, and the creature ran straight to him, and so did Newt. At the same time their hands made contact with the creature, they glowed a shade of turquoise but neither of them seemed to notice. They fell to the ground but didn't let go of the creature, who tried to get away.

"Hold him!" yelled Aris.

"I'm trying!"

Aris held his head up, trying to look around, "Where is everyone?! They have the jar!"

"They'll be here! We'll just have to hold-

For their surprises, the creature shoots out its tongue and grabs onto something to impulse itself out of the witches hold. Once free, it jumps high and out of view, leaving Newt and Aris on the ground. Thomas and the rest appeared moments later, running towards them.

"Great, it escaped." sighed Aris as he went to stand up.

"Well, don't look at me. It wasn't my fault!"

"Are you implying it was my fault?"

Thomas and the gang approach them, the brunet holding a hand to Newt, who still was over the ground,

"Are you okay?" he asks.

Newt nods and takes his hand.

"It escaped, didn't it?" asked Minho.

Aris raised an eyebrow, "The Switch? Yeah, it escaped." the tall blond approached Aris with the cuff on hand. The other raised his arm to him.

"Was it that difficult to catch?" asked Teresa.

"Oh no, we caught it." he glances at Newt, "But unfortunately it used its tongue to get away from our hold." the cuff was secured around his wrist.

"You didn't say it had a tongue like a bloody chameleon or frog." Newt said as a side comment, not looking at the other witch.

Aris turned to him, "Well, if I had remembered it then I would have told you."

The tension could be felt in the air. Thomas could smell the irritation coming from both witches. Fortunately Teresa was the one to cut it,

"It's getting late. We should go back and try it tomorrow."

Thomas nods, "Teresa's right. We won't be able to find it in the dark. We can try tomorrow after school."

"Fine,"

"Fine."

In the ride back to their own houses nobody said anything. Newt and Aris didn't even glance at each other.

 

* * *

 

At Gally and Aris mansion, the witch was over the kitchen ready to eat something for dinner while Gally was sitting on one stool over the counter, watching as the witch grabbed the cereal box and brought it to the counter with a hard slap. He turned around and harshly searched through the cupboard to find a bowl for his cereal. Gally knew he was angry. Because they had lost the Switch or because he might think it was his fault, who knew. Once he found a bowl, Aris slammed the bowl over the counter and poured the cereal in it.

"What did the bowl ever did to you?" asked Gally with a tone of sarcasm.

But Aris wasn't listening. He took a spoonful of cereal and angrily ate it.

"Can you believe that little witch?" he finally spats, "Who he think he is? He's just a novice in all this! I bet he can't even make a proper teleportation spell." he takes another bite, "And he acts as if losing the Switch had been my fault!"

A long pause, and then silence stays in the room before Gally goes to open his mouth,

"You could have invoked a jar, you know."

Aris turns to him with an anger expression, "Well, I wasn't thinking, okay?! I was more worried that the creature could escape while we chased it! Am I not allowed to get it wrong sometimes?"

"I didn't mean-

"Whatever," he looks at his bowl and lets go of the spoon, "I'm going to bed." he turns around, not bothering to pick up his plates, and goes upstairs and towards his room.

His room was quite big -he had made Gally give him that one with his charm. There he had many bookshelves filled with spell books and ingredients in jars. There were also some artifacts that he couldn't keep in his vault. He had a desk with a chair over the corner and a dresser just beside the bathroom door. His bed was king size -too big for just one person- and the sheets on the bed were crimson velvet. Changing into comfortable sweats and a medium sleeve shirt, he dove into his bed and closed his eyes to get some sleep. Tomorrow would be other day.

 

* * *

 

At his own house, Newt had finished taking a bath and was now drying his hair with a towel as he paced around his room. He kept glancing at the window and thought about the creature from this afternoon. He didn't like that they had to wait 'till tomorrow after school to search for the Switch. What if it disappeared? Could it do that? Would it be a good or bad thing if it did? He shook his head and tried to think in something else, but then he remembered that they could've trapped the creature if Aris had used his magic to make a jar appear.

"Bloody Aris. Thinks he's smarter just because he's got a couple of centuries more than me." he snorts, "I bet he can't even make a proper breakfast without using his magic."

He throws the towel towards the desk and walks to his bed, getting under the bed and staring at the ceiling. Tomorrow would be another day.

 

* * *

 

The night was quiet and a little bit chilly, just minutes before midnight, and everyone was sleeping. The wind blowing the branches of the trees, moving some wind chimes, and picking up the fallen leafs in the air. Everything was quiet and peaceful until the clock signals the midnight and everything starts.

 

* * *

 

Early on the next morning over a peaceful bedroom, the person lying over the bed started to wake up, rustling over the covers with their eyes still closed. Their breathing was soft and calm. As they moved over the bed, their mind started moving.

_'Oh, God, it's still too early. I can hear the bloody birds chirping outside the window. Oh well, better now than late. Gotta get up... I'd better-_

He slowly opens his eyes and finds a nightstand which he doesn't recognize at all. Frowning as he sits up, he looks at the room he is. Not his room. He gets up from bed -not his bed, either- and continues to look around the room.

 _'Whu- Where am I? Okay, recap: what happened last night? We were at the woods, chasing after another creature and we lost sight of it. We all went home and... that's it. I went back home, went to bed and slept. But then whose room is this? Did I pass out in here?'_ his heart starts beating fast, _'Okay, calm down. Now it's not time to panic. What I need to do is-_

"Newt?"

The named one is startled by a too familiar voice and he slowly turns around, finding over the door the image of himself, looking back at him. It sends shivers down his spine.

"Newt, I need you to calm down." his doppelganger said, slowly raising his hands as if treating with a scared animal. Well, he indeed was scared. "Look, I think something's happened to us."

"What are you?"

His copy nods at his right hand, so Newt's eyes go there too. He looks at the leather cuff around his wrist. Why does he has Aris'-

Something makes click in his mind and he looks back at the person over the door.

"Aris?"

"Yeah." the blond takes a step forward, "I can tell for your expression that you haven't seen your face yet. Am I right?"

The Brit frowns and turns to where a mirror is beside the desk so he walks up to it and sees his reflection: all he can see is Aris face. He touches it with both hands and feels it.

"Wha- what happened?"

"I think this has to do with the Switch." begins explaining Aris, "I wasn't really thinking about it when we went after it, but now that I remember-

" _Now_ you remember?!"

"-If two people touch a Switch at the same time, the Switch will, well, switch them into the other's body. I can't believe I didn't remembered that!"

Newt sighs, covering his face with both hands. _This can't be happening. This can't be happening! Him and Aris changed bodies. Aris' in his body. He's in Aris' bo-_ He blinks for a moment after realizing something, and he turns to Aris.

"How you got in?"

The blond nods over his shoulder. "Gally opened me. Told him you told me to come."

"And he didn't questioned?"

"It's you who he opened the door, not me."

"Then why you didn't told him? That it was you, I mean."

"I can't."

"What you mean you-

"We can't." he said signaling them both. "We can't tell anyone we changed bodies. It's a condition, kind of a rule for the Switches. If we tell someone that a Switch changed us, or that somehow we changed bodies, we'll stay trap in these bodies forever."

"Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking, Newt?"

"Don't call me 'Newt'. It's weird seeing you call me 'Newt' while you look like me!"

"What do you want me to call you, huh? Pancakes?!"

In that moment the door opened and they both startled turned to it; they saw Gally fully clothed standing at the door.

"Hey, is everything alright?" he asked kindly to Newt. He turned to see Aris standing there still in his pajamas and his tone changes, "You still haven't changed?"

The real Aris frowns at him, "Don't mess with him or...!" he stops. Gally frowns in confusion at his sudden outburst, so he clears his throat, "...or he would get mad at you."

The dirty blond glances at Newt, "Yeah, nothing new there. Just... hurry. School starts in 15 minutes." and with that he exits the room.

Newt -still in Aris' pajamas- turns to look at the other witch, "What are we gonna do?!"

"What do you mean? You heard that oaf; you need to change."

"What?" Newt blinks a few times, not believing what his ears hear, "You want us to pretend to be the other until we can find a way to switch back?"

"It's the only thing we can do. After school ends, we'll go looking for the Switch, so we just have to endure the day, okay?"

Newt just nods. This was going to be a long school day.

 

* * *

 

Arriving at school, Newt and Aris had change into normal clothes and went together with Gally to school. Gally apparently hadn't notice that they changed, so maybe the others wouldn't. That was a bad thing, right? Just endure the day. Endure the day... Newt -in Aris body- went together with Gally to their lockers since both were together. As Gally opened his locker and started taking his books out, Aris (Newt) tries to calm down.

_'It's just for a couple of hours. Nothing's gonna happen. It's fine.'_

He sighs and goes to open the locker when he realizes something. This was Aris' locker, not his. He doesn't have his combination! He stands still in front of his locker, his hand still grabbing the lock. Gally notices that and frowns,

"Is something wrong?"

Aris (Newt) turns to look at him with wide eyes, "I, uh... forgot my combination."

"You forgot your combination?"

"Yeah,"

"You're a disgrace." he pushes Aris' (Newt's) hand aside and inserts the combination, the lock opening. "There,"

"Thanks." and he starts taking out the books.

Gally turns to him with a frown again, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Why's that?"

"You just thanked me. Instead of lashing out and saying something like _'a monkey could have done what you did'_."

The witch swallows hard. 'Great, not even 5 minutes and you're not even convincing!'

"Well, what did you expect? Me always having something clever to say to you every time you open your mouth? It's exhausting, you know?" Gally's eyebrows shot up, as Aris turned his head and 'wowed' himself.

"Geez, you could've just told me to piss off."

Aris (Newt) closes the locker, books in hand as he turns to the tall blond, "Piss off." and starts walking to his class as he fights the laughter he so wanted to succumb to after seeing Gally's expression.

On the other side of the hallway, Aris in Newt's body was opening his locker -with magic, obviously- when he saw Thomas approaching.

"Hey,"

"Hey, you." he grins at the brunet, hugging a book to his chest as he searched for the other.

"So, um, how are you? I mean, after last night with the, umm..."

"The Switch?"

"Yeah,"

"Oh, don't worry. 'm fine."

Thomas smiles, "Great! I was worried, you know? I mean, that thing could have been dangerous and-

Thomas kept talking but the witch wasn't really hearing. He just stared at the brunet as he kept babbling.

 _'Oh, dear. He's so smitten with Newt, but he doesn't seem to realize something's different about him.'_ he grins, _'Let's have some fun.'_

"Anyway, I was wondering if... I-I don't know, if maybe-

"We could go and grab something to eat after school?" finished Newt (Aris).

Thomas' eyes widen. "What?"

"You heard me. Or you don't wanna?"

"No! No, no, no! I do!" he clears his throat, "It's just that... you threw me out off balance."

"Great!" he closes his locker and turns to Thomas with a sultry smile, "Then I'll be waiting for the bell to ring." and starts walking to his class, leaving the werewolf standing there until his brain starts functioning again.

 

* * *

 

The bell rang and the next class came, Newt and Airs shared it so they went to sit together at the back of the room.

"Hey. Anything new?" asked Aris (Newt) as he sat down and putted his books over the desk.

"Nothing. Just sat next to Teresa and we didn't have to speak as she was far more interested in the class, so..."

"Ugh, I had to sit next to Gally and I'm telling you, he didn't took his eyes away from me. He kept sending me this glare..."

"If you have a problem with Gally just give him a bag of Lucky Charms Marshmallows."

"Why Lucky Charms Marshmallows?"

Newt (Aris) shrugs, "Don't know. He loves them. Weird guy."

The second bell rang and the teacher entered the classroom, and the class began.

 

* * *

 

Next class and Newt (Aris) had gone to his classroom only to find Gally already there, looking down at something on his book. The witch was deciding if he should skip this class or just go in there and ignore the tall blond. Before he could decide, the tall blond looked up from his book and directly at him. Damn it. Now he had to go in there. He walked closer to the empty seat beside Gally and sat down.

"Hey. What are you reading?"

"My History book."

Of course... because they were on the History class. Duh!

Remembering something useful, he puts a strand of hair behind his ear and smiles, "So, um, Aris told me that he had manage to decipher another part of the list."

"Really?"

Newt (Aris) nods, "Aha." he starts searching inside his satchel as if he were going to take something out, "He actually..." and produces the list with magic without Gally noticing. "gave it to me to check it." he shows it to the tall blond.

"He did?" he asks with an eyebrow up and grabs the list, "So what are they?"

"It's strange. One of the jars had mermaid hair and another had moss and fungus from the druid's forest."

"So not all of them have creatures inside?"

"No. Some just have ingredients."

"Have you ever seen the druid's forest? Or a mermaid for all that matters? Because that's not written in here."

Newt's (Aris') eyes widen and he panics. _'Shit. He isn't supposed to know!'_

"I, uh, Aris told me. Yeah, he told me what where those but he said he forgot to write them."

"Yeah, typical Aris. Forgetting important things."

Newt (Aris) glares at him as the other doesn't notice.

 

* * *

 

Lunch time came and so Aris (Newt) went to get something to eat as his stomach was growling with hunger. He was walking through the hallways right towards the cafeteria when he saw the brunet werewolf putting some book inside his locker and a smile appeared over his face as he approached him. Thomas didn't seem to notice him as he got closer,

"Hey, Tommy."

Thomas turns to him with a startled look. "What?"

"What?"

"You just called me Tommy."

_'Shit.'_

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"No."

"Yes,"

"So what? It's your name, isn't it?"

"No... Most people call me Thomas. Except Newt, he calls me Tommy."

The real Newt felt something move in his chest and he wanted to smile at Thomas, but right now the werewolf couldn't know about it. So he shrugged it off. "Oh, okay. Sorry I called you 'Tommy'."

"It's okay. What were you going to tell me?"

"Just checking if your tutors will let you stay out late to catch the Switch."

Thomas seemed to think about something because he stopped with his mouth open. He gulped, "Oh, actually... I don't think I can come with you guys."

"Why? Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, yeah." he scratched the back of his neck, "It's just that I, uh, I already have some other plans... With Newt."

Newt stood there with wide eyes and in a high pitch voice he asked _"Say whaaat?"_

 

* * *

 

Newt (Aris) was at the library, checking some books in his free time and at the same time thinking about his 'date' with Thomas. It was nice to have a date after so long... Actually, when was the last time he had a date? He can't really remember and that's a serious topic. He looked down at the book over the desk he had grabbed and continued to read it. He wasn't really paying attention, because if he were he would have notice when the little British witch furiously approached him, slamming his hands down on the desk and yelling,

"Okay, little fella. Let me tell you a few things. First, this is a library, you shouldn't yell. Second, boy, good news really travels fast. Third-

"You can't have a date with Thomas!"

"Why not? He's hot and I'm single. I wanna have some fun since I don't get any while Gally's keeping an eye on me all time."

"You can't do it! It's my body! If it were someone else's..." he stays quiet, looking at the ground.

"Let me ask you something: is it because it's your body... or because it's your body but it's not you?" he asked with a smirk.

The real Newt tried not to blush or get angry at the other. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction. "It's wrong. You're deceiving him. And besides you can't go to that... pseudo date with Thomas; we have to find the Switch."

"Yeah, speaking of that... I'm not really sure I want to change back yet."

Aris (Newt) stays still, blinking a few times, "What?"

"It's just... it's more fun being you. I can do magic without a restriction, I don't have Gally over my back all day, I get to spend lots of hours with a sexy werewolf."

"B-but it's not _your_ body, it's _mine_!"

"Yeah, and I will give it to you in a few... days, maybe."

" _Days?!_ Oh, no, you're completely deranged if you think I'm going to allow you do this for days!"

Newt (Aris) took a step forward, "And how are you going to stop me, little witch? Someone had to take that off," he glances at the cuff, "and trust me, nobody will without a good excuse."

"I'll tell the guys."

"Sure, go ahead. Just remember that if you tell them we'll be stuck in each other bodies forever."

"I'm not really sure if I should believe everything that comes out of your mouth."

Newt (Aris) shrugs, "Well, why don't you tell them and find out?"

They both glared at each other. This was the worst day ever, and it wasn't even finished. Why was Aris being such a prick? He didn't deserve that treatment!

Aris (Newt) huffed and turned around to leave the library. He was suddenly no longer hungry. He walked along the empty hallway -everyone were at the cafeteria- and tugged at his hair. He was going crazy!

He stopped near a big trash can and tried to calm himself, but he just wanted to go back and tell Aris what he really thought about him. He kicks the trash can once and huffs angrily at it when Gally appears at the corner of his eyes, approaching him.

"What did inanimate objects ever did to you to be that angry at them?"

Aris (Newt) frowns, "What?"

Gally stares at him with an indecipherable look before he shook it off, "Nevermind. I was actually looking for you. I've been meaning to ask... Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

The tall blond leans against the lockers, "Yesterday after the thing with the Switch, you were kind of angry. Also upset, but mostly angry."

"I was?"

"Yeah. At first I thought you were angry at Newt, but now I think actually you were angry at yourself for not being able to catch the Switch and knowing Newt was right."

Aris (Newt) looks at the ground for a moment, "Really?"

"Yeah. Even if you don't admit it, you think Newt was right and... maybe that's what's making you act weird today."

_'That's what's making you act weird today.'_

So that was it? Aris was upset that he had been right and that was his reason to act like a jerk to him?

"What a prick." he let out, thinking aloud.

Gally nudges him with his shoulders, "Hey, don't be such harsh on yourself. We all feel that way at least once in our lives, so it's okay."

Aris (Newt) smiles at lets out a chuckle, feeling something warm moving inside his chest. He looks at the tall blond,

"You are actually nice, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are." he nudges Gally back, "But it's okay. I like it."

"Okay, now you're creeping me out. You've been awfully quiet and nice today. You normally would've said something to bother me, but you haven't."

"...Oh. Sorry, do you want me to say something? Because I have time and-

"No, no! Leave it like that."

Aris (Newt) smirks, "Good boy."

 

* * *

 

The bell rang and the gang went out of school. Gally, Aris (Newt) and Minho were waiting for Teresa to come out too. Minutes later the raven girl came and stood beside them.

"Okay, we're all ready." Minho said.

"Wait. Shouldn't we wait for Thomas and Newt?"

"Tommy-boy has a date with Newt."

"Finally."

"I know." they giggled.

Gally glanced at Aris (Newt), who was the only one who didn't make a comment about that.

Gally started talking, "Actually... I need to do something first, so we'll catch you later. Alright?"

Minho shrugged, "Sure. Anyways I was kind of starving."

"Me too." Teresa said. They both waved at the other two and left.

Gally looked back at Aris (Newt) and took out the car keys, "Come on."

They drove to the mansion and once inside, the witch felt trapped.

'Okay, relax. Gally just needs to do something and then we all will go to meet Thomas and go catch the Switch so I can finally end this nightmare.'

He enters the dining room, where he sees Gally putting some vials with different liquids over the table and starts pouring them into one empty vial.

"So that's the thing you needed to do?"

Gally stops and stares at him as if he had said something dumb. "It's the potion we've been working on to catch the Switch, remember?"

Aris (Newt) panics, "Oh, yeah! Sure, sorry." he stutters, "I thought it was something else."

Gally mumbles something under his breath and turns his back to the witch, continuing mixing the liquids. Without turning around, the tall blond asks,

"Hey, can you pass me the red potion over the counter? You know which one, right?"

"...Right." the witch turned around and saw two small glasses: one with a red liquid and the other with a blue one. Trusting his instinct, he picked up the red one and gave it to Gally. "Here you go."

The other looked at it and took it, "Thanks." and turned his back to him.

Aris (Newt) sighed in relief. At least he didn't messed it up. Now all he had to do was wait 'till they could go out and search for the Switch. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of something metallic against the floor. Aris (Newt) turned around and found himself with a big ass sword just a couple of inches away from his face. He raised his hands in surrender as he looked at Gally, who had a firm glare against him.

"Who are you?"

"Wh-what? Gally, what the-

"You're not fooling anyone; you're not Aris. That red thing you passed me? It wasn't a potion, it was fruit punch. The real Aris would know that since he left it there two days ago! Now, I'm going to ask again: Who are you?!" he changed the sword so the point was against his throat.

"I-I can't tell you!"

"You better start right now, if not, then I'm just going to have to pressure you!" he held the sword tighter.

The witch's eyes went to the sword and back to the tall blond, "I swear, Gally, I'm not a bad guy!"

"Bullshit. You've been acting weird since this morning. I knew there was something wrong but I couldn't put my finger on it. That little test with the red potion just cleared it up for me. You've been posing as Aris, so it means you are up to no good."

"Please, you have to believe me-

"I'll try again. Who are you and why are you doing this?" the other doesn't say anything. "No? Okay. If you are really Aris, then why the hell have you been acting out of character since we went to follow the Switch over the woods and you and Newt couldn't catch the Switch?!"

Aris' (Newt's) eyes were silently begging for the other to understand. 'This has become a nightmare!' Suddenly, it seems like realization sinks on Gally, as his eyes soften a little and his stance changes, though he's still holding the sword.

"The Switch..." he lowers the sword, "That's why you've been acting so weird. You and Aris changed bodies."

 _"YES!"_ Aris (Newt) sagged in relief, "Finally! It's barely been a day and it's been driving me nuts knowing I couldn't tell anyone! Now that you know can you tell the rest so we can find that bloody Switch and switch back?"

"Sure. Let me just call them and we'll meet." he turns around and is about to leave to find his cellphone when he stops in his tracks and turns back to the other, "Wait a minute. If you're here in Aris body, where is Aris with your body?" his eyes fall to the witch's wrist, "And without his cuff?!"

 

* * *

 

"And then Minho said we should go and do it, but I told him he had to be nuts!" he starts laughing, "But he just ignored me and went to climb over the neighbor's fence to retrieve the baseball and the neighbor's dog apparently saw him."

Over the pizza parlor, Thomas and Newt (Aris) were sitting over one of the table, eating pizza and talking. Well, Thomas was doing the talking; the witch just listened with a fake smile.

"And then the neighbor's dog ran after him and he, _hahahaha_ , let out this girlish scream and ran all around the house!" Thomas starts laughing.

Newt (Aris) just continues smiling at him, really not interested in his story but trying to act as if he were. _'I bet Newt would be interested. He would probably be laughing with him.'_

Thomas finishes laughing and he wipes a tear from his eye, then looks at the witch with a smile.

"I'm really glad we came."

The other nods, "Same here."

Seconds later Thomas stopped smiling, staring at his coke instead as if it had something far more interesting to tell. Newt (Aris) sees this,

"Is something wrong?"

"No, no, I was just..." he sighs, "Thinking about my first full moon a couple of days ago. Remember?"

Newt (Aris) stilled for a moment. He just smiled and nodded.

"Even thought Minho chained me in my room and I was sure I could control it... I wanted out. I wanted to go out and do... horrible things. I escaped my chains and went to your house but I managed to control myself and remember that before I did something stupid." he's still looking at his coke, not meeting the witch's eyes, "But then you came to my house a-and... I was so afraid I was gonna hurt you and you didn't wanted to leave even if your life was in risk." he looks up and meets Newt's (Aris') eyes, "You stayed with me until the next morning, calming me and telling me that everything was gonna be fine. But I couldn't stop the part where I could have killed you. A-and if that happened, I think I would go out of my freaking mind."

"Really?" the other asks with a soft tone that Thomas doesn't seem to notice.

"Yeah,"

Newt (Aris) feels a knot on his throat and he looks away for a moment. Damn this. He closes his eyes and looks back at Thomas with a soft smile,

"You really are a good guy, Thomas." he sighs, "And I now feel bad for everything."

Thomas frowns in confusion. In that moment the rest of the gang enters the pizza parlor and they look around, trying to find them. Thomas sees them and then the others find him and run towards him.

"Thomas!"

"What are you guys-

"Newt and Aris changed bodies." says Minho.

"Wha-" he turns to look at the witch sitting in front of him.

Newt (Aris) stands up, "Well, now that the cat's out of the bag, to use an archaic and cruel-sounding metaphor, we need to find the Switch before it's too late." he walks to the door with Gally behind him. Teresa and Minho follow right after, leaving Thomas and the real Newt alone in the parlor for a moment.

Aris (Newt) raises his hand, "Hi,"

"Hey,"

"Hey you two! We'll have plenty of time to eat pizza after we finish this!" they heard Minho's voice, "Come on!"

Once everyone was out of the pizza parlor, they started walking towards Gally's truck. Thomas, Aris (Newt), Teresa and Minho were walking on the back, apparently trying to make a plan in how to catch the Switch; Gally and Newt (Aris) were a few steps away from them in the front, getting closer to the truck. The witch eyed the tall blond beside him and found him not looking at him.

"What? You're gonna scold me and tell me I'm gonna be in serious trouble for taking advantage of being able to use magic at my will?"

"No."

Newt (Aris) looks at him, "Why?"

Not looking at him, Gally answers "It's just... I'm actually nice."

He doesn't see the way Newt's (Aris') mouth curls into a smirk.

"Well, well. Big guy got a bit of a soft spot, huh?"

Gally rolled his eyes. _'That's what I get for trying to be nice.'_

"...Thanks."

Gally actually stops walking for a moment before continuing, nobody noticing. _'Well, that's a start.'_

"Hey, guys!" they all stop at hearing Minho's voice, "I don't wanna be a party pooper, but how exactly are we going to catch that thing if it can change us if we touch it?"

"Ooh, we want it to touch us." says Newt (Aris).

"Huh?"

 

* * *

 

They parked the truck near the woods, just before entering. They had brought the walkie-talkies from the other time and had separated in pairs again; Thomas with Aris (Newt), Minho with Gally, and Teresa with Newt (Aris). They all had went to different parts of the woods in case the Switch appeared in another place.

Thomas was standing behind a tree with the witch beside him. He brought the walkie-talkie to his face and pressed the button to talk, "Okay. We're gonna have to get more into the woods. That's where last time we found it. Questions?"

 _"Yes, one."_ came Minho's voice, _"Are we rushing in? Or are we going sneaky beaky like?"_

"For God's sake, Min!" Thomas was trying not to laugh, "This is a serious moment!" he sighed trying to compose himself, "Okay. Everybody ready?"

_"Ready."_

_"Ready."_ came from Teresa.

"Okay," he looked at Aris (Newt) and the other nodded. "We're going now."

Over where Teresa and Newt (Aris) were, the raven girl looked around at the orange colored sky and trees. As they walked, she glanced at the witch's direction and cleared her throat, gaining the other's attention.

"So... you went to a date with Thomas. Does that mean you like him?"

"No. I just thought it would be fun to mess with Newt as a payback for what happened with the Switch, but," he stops, looking at the ground for a moment, "It's all fun and games... until it's not."

Teresa stops too, "You mean Thomas and Newt's feelings?"

Before he can answer or she can ask something else, from her walkie-talkie came Minho's voice.

 _"Hey, guys. I think I saw something."_ he stops a second, _"Yeah, definitely saw something move."_

 _"That's a squirrel."_ came Gally's voice.

_"Well, forgive me Mr. I-know-all-about-magical-creatures! I was just being cautious!"_

"Guys! Calm down!" Thomas' voice was heard from the other line, "We've gotta be quiet in order to find the Switch, okay?"

Back at Thomas, he and the witch were walking closer to the last place they saw the creature; looking around the trees. Thomas glanced at the witch and felt kind of weird looking at him knowing this was Newt... but in Aris' body. While Aris had Newt's body. Ugh, that sounded horrible.

_"Thomas?"_

Thomas looks at him and shakes his thoughts away. "What?"

"I said we should be careful. We don't want anyone else switching bodies."

"Yeah, sure."

The witch tilted his head, "Are you okay? You seem distracted."

"I... I was just thinking about the Switch."

"Yeah, me too. I'm worried that we won't be able to catch it and Aris and I will have to stay like this. Would it be weird calling me 'Newt' while I look like this? Of course it would; I mean, look at me." he stops walking.

Thomas stops walking too, staring right at the witch without moving. Even though that definitely isn't Newt's body, his mind and soul are, that expression he's making is definitely Newt's.

"I am looking."

Aris (Newt) stares at him in awe and he feels a blush going over his face but he can't take his eyes away from the brunet. The determination in his eyes, his stance, everything. He smiled at Thomas and was about to say something when he saw something move behind Thomas. Something blue and with orange eyes hovering over one of the branches.

"The Switch!"

As soon as he yelled that, the creature turned to look at them and quickly dashed far. The two teenagers went follow after it, running through the woods.

Thomas grabbed his walkie-talkie, "Guys! We saw him! We're following it! It's going to where Teresa and Aris are!"

_"Copy that!"_

"Come on! We gotta corner it in the place!" yelled the witch, to which Thomas nodded and ran faster.

Thomas and Aris (Newt) continued running after the Switch while it ran farther towards where they wanted it to run. The blue creature kept running to the same place it had changed the two witches when Teresa appeared on the other side, right in front of it and its escape. The creature switched course and ran to the left where no more further found Gally and Minho waiting for him. The Switch then ran back again at the right and as no one was there it seemed that it was his chance to get away.

"Don't let it escape!" yelled the two guys.

The Switch jumps in an attempt to run away, but as it jumps both Newt and Aris grab the it mid-air and fall to the ground. While struggling to get free, the creature glowed a shade of turquoise. Newt (Aris) -with a free hand- appeared a jar and Aris (Newt) touched the jar and it started glowing. Moments later, the jar started shaking and the Switch was being dragged like if it were made of silk. It tried to shot its tongue out but it was futile; it was now trapped inside the jar. Both witches sighed and fell to the dirt exhausted. The rest of the gang approached them, worry in their faces.

"Did it work?" asked Teresa.

Thomas took some steps closer, standing in front of the blond witch.

"Newt?"

As soon as he said his name, the blond witch raised his head and turned to look at Thomas, "Tommy." he smiled.

Thomas smiled back and let out a sigh in relief. He extended his hand to Newt, who took it and stood up.

Gally approaches the other, "I guess that means you're Aris."

Aris snorts, back still to him, "Well, congratulations. I hope it didn't hurt you coming to that conclusion."

"Yep, that's Aris." Minho said beside him, patting at his shoulder.

Still on the ground, Aris looks at his hands, surprisingly not at his cuffed wrist but at his hands and sighs. He was about to shake the dirt off and get up when a hand appeared in front of him. He followed the arm and found Gally staring back at him. Aris stared at it for a moment while fighting if he should grab it or not before taking it. He let the tall blond get him up on his feet.

"...Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Aris smirks, "Are you embarrassed?"

"Never mind. Stay on the ground."

"Oh, you like that?"

Gally rolled his eyes and decided to walk back to the gang. Newt walked towards Aris and the two of them stayed in front of the other. The lighter brunet scratched his neck as he looked at the ground,

"Hey..."

"Hey."

Aris looked at him, "So... No hard feelings?"

Newt smiled. "Sure."

Nodding at each other, they started walking back to the gang.

"Just so you know, even thought I went on a date with Thomas, he was just thinking about you." he smirks over his shoulder, "When you were over his room and spent the night."

Newt flushed. "That's not- It didn't..." they laughed.

"Hey, you two! What are you talking about?" Minho asked from the distance.

Newt shook his head. "Nothing! Witches stuff."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good night all my little ghouls! Hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> -Creatures found: 1 - Switch.  
> -Ingredients/other stuff: 2 - Mermaid hair & moss and fungus.
> 
> -Number of jars: 15.  
> -Jars obtained 'till now: 8.  
> *Nymphs - 3.  
> *Mountain ash - 1.  
> *Goblin eyes - 1.  
> *Switch - 1.  
> *Mermaid hair - 1.  
> *Moss and fungus - 1.


	7. That Old Black Magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! The next chapter is here! Enjoy, my lovely ones!~

The warm light of the candles is the only thing that illuminates the dark classroom over school at night. Inside a classroom, a girl is seen standing in front of a desk with four light up candles and a paper that had something drawn and written in it with black ink; it looked like a scroll or something. The girl was chanting something under her breath, eyes glued to the paper in front of her. Outside the room, there were some steps heard but she didn't seem to notice. As they got closer, the flame of the candles started dancing as if it were going to blow off. The girl continued her chanting when suddenly the flame burst in a bigger flame and then became smaller, startling the girl. Having felt a presence, the girl went out of the classroom and looked around but there was no one there. She went to turn around and back into the classroom when a shadow appeared behind her and before she could notice, it grabbed her by the shoulders and a scream was heard through all the school but there was no one there to hear her.

Over her house at her room, Teresa moved a little in her sleep, face scrunch in a frown.

 

* * *

 

In the morning at school, Teresa and Newt were walking towards their classroom over the hallways. They had sit together during the trip to school on the bus and had engaged into a conversation about the homework and classes, but it was until they arrived at school that they started talking about the real stuff.

"So how's everything going?"

Newt sighs, "It's exhausting. I'm exhausted. My mom knows there's something going on, besides me arriving at my house late, or not sleeping so well. She thinks I'm in a gang or something!"

Teresa chuckles, "Why don't you tell them the truth?"

"There's no way to say _'Hey, mom. The reason I'm tired this last days it's because me and my friends might accidentally released a bunch of supernatural creatures in the town and now we're trying to catch them all'_! I can't tell her that. Besides, my mom might make me drop out of this 'hunting party', and I can't until every last of the creatures in that list is complete."

"You're too good for your own good, you knew that?" the blond nudges her, making her laugh.

"I gotta go to class and choose my seat. Don't want the window again." he whined.

"Okay, see you at lunch?"

"Sure," and with that, Newt ran to where his classroom was. Teresa went to her, which was the Math classroom.

Over Math class, some students were standing and talking with each other, others weren't over their seats and others weren't even there since the teacher hadn't arrived yet. Well, the bell hadn't ringed so it was to be expected. Three girls were almost at the front of the classroom, sitting around the empty desk there. One girl had blonde hair, one with brown long hair, and the other with brown short hair. They were pointing at something over the desk while talking in whispers; the one with blonde hair moved her arm and made a black pencil with a red ribbon fall from her desk and over the ground, rolling towards the raven girl with blue eyes that was walking to her seat. Teresa kneeled and pick up the pencil, staring at it for a moment before holding it to the girl,

"Hey, you dropped-

Before she can finish saying that, the girl snatches the black pencil back from Teresa's hand. The raven girl stares at her confused, but then something catches her attention behind them at the girl's table. There was a paper that had something drawn in it with black ink and there were different objects on top of it.

"What's that?"

The other girls grab the stuff and the paper away quickly,

"Nothing!"

And stand up, going to their respective seat and ignoring Teresa, who just stayed there confused. She decided to ignore it and went to her own seat, putting her satchel on the floor and staring at the girl with blonde hair. That had been weird, but she shook it off and waited for the teacher to come.

 

* * *

 

At lunch, Teresa went to meet the gang at the cafeteria, but she only saw Gally and Aris sitting on the table. Approaching them, she puts down her tray and sits down.

"Hey," she looks around, "Where is everyone?"

"I don't know." he turns to Gally, "Why don't you be nice and go search for them?"

"Why the hell me?"

"You want me to go around the school alone? Really?" he asked innocently while resting his chin over his cuffed hand.

The sandy blond stares at him for a couple of seconds before he pushes his chair back and stands up, walking towards the exit in search for the rest of the gang. Aris grins and waves at him goodbye, then proceeds to eat his food.

Teresa chuckles and is about to eat hers too when her eyes catch the sight of the blonde girl from before, _'I think her name was Sara.'_ and she remembers the strange paper and stuff over the desk.

"Hey, Aris?"

He licks his lips, "Yeah?"

"What do you know about spells and conjurations?"

"What I don't know should be the question." he said with a smirk, "Why? Is something wrong?"

Teresa shook her head, "No. It's nothing."

Aris stares at her as if trying to decipher if she was being honest or not. He decides to ignore it, his eyes instead falling over Gally's unattended tray and he smirks once more.

"Oh, my. Did Gally just left his tray without any kind of supervision and with me sitting beside it?" he chuckles, "Oh, you poor oaf."

Teresa laughed as he grabbed the tray and served himself from the tall blonde's food. Teresa turned her head back to where Sara was and saw another girl with dark hair walking behind Sara, going to put her empty tray over its place. Teresa frowned. _'I think her name was... Michelle. Yeah, she's with me in Math and Chemistry.'_ As she saw the girl disappear from the cafeteria, she couldn't shake a feeling in her gut. There was something... off. But why? She shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment. _Relax. Maybe it's nothing, you're just being paranoid._

Gally came back a few minutes later with Thomas, Newt and Minho and he yelled at Aris for eating his food. Aris wasn't even sorry.

 

* * *

 

After the classes came to an end and the school was empty, over a classroom just the lights of candles were the only thing that illuminated the room and the four girls -Sara, Clear, Sam and Michelle- who were there. They were standing around a table that had the same strange piece of paper in the middle, some doodles or something written on it.

"Are you ready?" asked Michelle at the girls, "Here we go."

Gulping, they all held their right hand over the paper and waited. Their faces showed fear but they didn't moved their hands away. Everything was quiet, and just as Michelle was about to open her mouth, the candles flickered for an instant and Michelle turned around at the recently open door, revealing Teresa. The blue eyed girl stays in her place, clearly not expecting anyone to be there. She had to finish something in the library and then she saw a light coming from this room, so she decided to go check it.

"Oh. Sorry, I thought there was no one..." she looks at the table and finds the same strange paper over it, "here." the girls just stare at her, none of them moving or saying anything. "Is something wrong?"

Michelle turns to the girl with short brunet hair -Sam-, and the girl nods. She then turns back to Teresa,

"Think of a wish."

Teresa blinks, "A wish?" she approaches the table, looking more closely to the desk. She doesn't know why she's still here, or why is she agreeing to do this. She felt something in her insides move, but she shook it off. All the girls were staring at her.

Moments later, they all held their hands back to where they were. Teresa looked around and looking at her hand for a moment, she did the same thing.

Michelle smiled, "Now we're ready, right?" and took out a small vial with a white powder. It looked like the ones that Aris owned.

"In this time when the power of light that I would desire has faded, I wish to unlock the sealed gate of darkness." she pours the powder over the paper, and it starts shining as if it were glitter. "Oh great powers residing in the darkness, gather in this world and give me your strength. Grant us our earnest wishes. If you do, in exchange, we will happily give you our lives." the powder now covers all the paper and the symbols on it, and it kind of looks like a kindergarten work with too much glitter. "We will authenticate with blood the contract between us." she raises her hand, "I summon you!"

There's a bright light that makes all the girls look away from it, and then suddenly, Teresa can swear she feels something sharp and quick cut her index finger. They all do. Then, there's droplets of blood falling from their hands and onto the paper, and it all happens to fast they don't see it. The drops of blood connect with each other, the fire of the candles lights more and more until the room is brighter and then as fast as it starts, it finishes. The candles burn out; the only thing left is smoke. Michelle brings her hand down, eyes closed and she sighs. She opens her eyes again and looks at the girls,

"It's over."

They don't move. Teresa stares at the raven long haired girl and feels that something is weird.

Minutes later, they are all picking up their stuff at the lockers. Teresa brings her hand up and stares at the index with a frown,

"That's odd. I could've sworn I felt something prick my finger." she said out loud.

Sam, the brunet with short hair looks at her finger too, "I felt it too."

Michelle closes her locker, "You must be imagining it. Are you sure you weren't so nervous it felt like you really did cut your finger?"

Clear, the other brunet but with long hair is putting on her sweater as she nervously looks at Michelle, "Say, Michelle, you were saying some scary things. Is it all right?"

"It's all right. Your wishes will definitely come true in a week... as long as you don't speak this to other people."

"What do you mean?" asks Sara.

"I told you this is a spell which will grant you any wish, right? However, if you talk to other people about your wish or the ritual before your wish comes true," she looks at them with a dead serious face, "you'll definitely be cursed."

They all feel a shiver go down their spines and at the same time they let out a _"What?!"_

Michelle smiles, "It will be all right, just don't talk about it. And if you decide you don't like this, there's a way to quit in the middle. Okay?"

The other three girls sigh in relief, but Teresa feels like she just made a huge mistake.

 

* * *

 

Thomas entered the sheriff's department at 8:20 p.m. passing the main entrance and walking directly at where Vince's office would be. In the afternoon Mary told him that Vince had been in such a hurry that he forgot the keys to the car and left without it, instead taking a taxi. So she asked Thomas is he could go and pick him up, which the brunet agreed to.

As he walked past the desks of the other deputies he saw a tall, in his mid to late 20's lanky brunet with hazel-green eyes ([x](http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1961243.1412278337!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_750/flash-web.jpg)) holding a coffee, sitting on top of a desk with his legs dangling. Unlike the rest of the guys there, he didn't have a uniform on. Nope, he didn't need one. He didn't need one because he was the forensic scientist, Alexander "Alec" Montgomery. Actually, he worked for the FBI, but they borrowed him every time something happened and he had to come and go, and so he decided to stay for good, still being an agent. He's been a couple of years in Beacon Hills, and he doesn't seem to be in any hurry to leave. And as a forensic scientist? He was always so happy and excited; and even thought his work involved in seeing crime scenes, blood and deaths, he always had a smile on his face. Thomas liked him; he was a good guy. Walking towards him, the older brunet noticed him and smiled,

"Hey, Alec."

"Hey, mini boss. How is everything going on the teenage world?"

Many thoughts went through Thomas' mind. Especially werewolves. "It's cool."

"Nice. What're you doing here? Something happened?"

"Oh no, not at all. I just came to see if Vince was ready to leave."

"Well, you better do it now because the sheriff might enter at any second and ask you to leave."

Thomas snorts, "I want to see him try." _'Especially now.'_

As Alec smiled, the door opened and the sheriff entered the place carrying a box and approaching Vince's office. He opened the door and Thomas saw Vince behind his desk, writing something down when he looked up and saw as the sheriff putted down the box on his desk.

"I need you to check these files before you go."

Vince saw Thomas and apologetically shrugged, almost as if telling him that he was sorry, but couldn't go right now. The sheriff exited his office, closing the door behind him and walked away. He noticed Thomas and frowned, looking at the clock on the wall.

"What are you staring at, kid? Don't you have a bed time?" and with that he disappeared where the bathrooms were.

Thomas frowns. Alec nudges at him with his leg,

"Don't listen to him, Thomas. You're young, handsome _AND_ ," he turns around to grab something from the desk he was sitting on, "you have a lollipop." he said giving the candy to Thomas.

Thomas stared at the lollipop and smirked. "Oh yeah. Now he for sure will be jealous."

He laughed when Alec brought a hand to his hair and ruffled it playfully.

 

* * *

 

Over Teresa's house, the raven blue eyed girl was over her room alone in her house. Well, not that she lived alone. She lived with her mother, since her parents had divorced a couple of years ago. She still gets to see her dad, so it was okay. Teresa was sitting over her bed already in her pajamas while reading a book when a knock came to her door. She raised her head and saw her mom leaning over the doorframe while staring at her with a loving smile. She was wearing a long dress and her hair was pulled up in a bun.

 _'She must have gotten out on a date.'_ Teresa thought. Sometimes her mom was asked on dates whenever a man saw her and she couldn't blame them. Her mom was a really beautiful woman; she was fairly young, had dark long hair, blue-green eyes and a white smile ([x](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Eva_Green_\(Headshot\).jpg)).

She closed her book and stared at her mom. "Hey, how did your date went?"

Her mom shrugged, "Oh, it was okay."

" _'Okay'_? Mom, this book is _'okay'_." she said raising the book she was reading, "Come on, you can tell me."

Her mom -Emily- let out a sigh and entered her room, sitting on the edge of her bed. "This guy asked me if I had any children. When I told him 'yes' he asked if she was as pretty as me. But the way and tone he said it, _ughh_..." she said with a shudder.

Teresa chuckled, and her mother followed.

"How was your day at school?"

Teresa thinks about the spell and the other girls. "Good."

The older raven woman brings a hand to cup her daughter's face. She smiles at Teresa and leans forward to kiss the top of Teresa's head, muttering a _'don't sleep too late'_ before she stands up, walking towards the door. She exits the room and is about to leave but returns, her head peeking inside the room.

"Don't forget you meds, honey."

"I won't, mom."

Her mom smiled and sent her a kiss before walking to her own room, ready to fall into Morpheus' arms. Still on her bed, Teresa putted her book down on her nightstand and glanced at the small pill bottle that was beside the book and her alarm. The pills were so she could sleep at night without any disturbance. So she couldn't hear the voices and the strange noises she sometimes heard. She grabbed the bottle and opened it, taking out one small pill.

Grabbing the water bottle she always makes sure she has in her bedroom, she swallows the pill and then takes a sip of water. Feeling tired already and wanting the pill to make its effect quickly, she turns off her lamp and grabs her covers, bringing them up as she lays on bed. Closing her eyes, she lets the pill do its thing and falls asleep.

A few hours later, the wind was blowing softly, moving the trees and the leafs flying around in the air. Over her house, Teresa was profoundly sleeping, turning in her bed. The moon on the sky was covered by the clouds, and her room was left darker than before. There's a strange presence and suddenly Teresa opens her eyes, wide awake. She feels something weird, as if someone was there at the house. Her mom was sleeping over her own room, covers half covering her and hair wild over the pillows. There's a barely audible noise but Teresa can hear it. She always can hear that kind of noises. She tries to move but...

_'I can't move.'_

It's like if she were paralyzed. She tries but not even a finger moves. She continues hearing that noise and her heart starts beating fast; she feels how she's sweating now and can't stop it.

 _'I can't even say anything.'_ she tried to calm down and being rational. _'I-It's all right. Feeling of paralysis when you wake up have been validated by science. But...'_ she manages to move her eyes to look as far as she can, _'What is this feeling as though I'm being watched?'_

There's a crack sound coming from inside her room and she felt a knot on her throat. She cursed that she couldn't move or speak. A shadow loomed over her, but because she had her face half turned to the other side she couldn't see well. What if someone had entered her house and was now in her room, watching her sleep? What if...? She closed her eyes and braced for anything that could happen. The clouds uncovered the moon, and soon her bedroom was illuminated again and suddenly she could move. She grabbed her covers and covered her face, letting out a small yelp as she did so. She stayed like that for a couple of seconds before she lowered the cover and eyed the room. Everything looked pretty normal. There was no longer the feeling of being watch or that someone was there.

Even thought everything was back to normal, Teresa couldn't go back to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Apparently Teresa hadn't been the only one to feel as if someone had been at her house at night. The other girls -Sara and Clear, which were the ones who had already arrived- told her the same thing. They were currently at school, waiting for the bell to ring. They were talking over Sara's seat in Math class, waiting for the teacher to arrive.

"What should we do? I don't want to go through that awful experience again." Clear said.

"We'll quit." Teresa said, "Michelle said we can do that in the middle of it."

Sara was the next one to talk, "Yeah, but... Sam and Michelle are late."

Teresa looked around the classroom and indeed, neither of the girls were there. She caught the sight of Minho staring at her, so she turned her head back to the girls. The bell then rang and the teacher entered the classroom, so they all had to go back to their seats. The teacher takes out his attendance list, and as Teresa stares at Sam's empty desk, the teacher starts the roll call.

"All right, let's get started. Adams?"

_"Here!"_

"Allen?"

_"Here,"_

"Clark?"

_"Here,"_

"Damon."

_"Here."_

Teresa realized that the teacher had skipped Sam, as she was before 'Damon'. One thing was that she hadn't arrived yet, but other thing was skipping her from the list.

"Mr. Brown." she said raising her hand, catching her teacher's attention.

"Huh? What's the matter?"

Teresa stood up, "You skipped Sam- I mean, miss Dabner."

"Dabner?" the teacher frowns confused. "What are you talking about, miss Wilde? There's no such girl in our class."

Some of the students start chuckling at her apparently clumsiness. Teresa looks over where Sam's desk is... only to find an empty spot where it was supposed to be a desk.

_'Sam's desk is gone. No way...'_

The sound of the door opening makes her turn her head to the door, and sees Michelle standing there, apparently getting to school late. She locks eyes with Teresa and offers her a smile. The other girls, who are also looking at her, get pale. She approaches the teacher and gives him a note, which he reads. He nods to her and she walks to her seat next to Sara. The teacher continues the roll call,

"All right, next! Earls?"

 

* * *

 

At the second hour, Gally grabbed his Econ book from his locker and went to class. Once he arrived, he saw Aris already sitting down on his seat, reading a dictionary with a frown.

"What's the matter? Found the word 'irritable' with your picture next to it?" he asked the lighter brunet as he approached him.

Aris ignores him, "Why the heck does English have a word for _'the action of throwing someone out of a window'_ but not for _'the day after tomorrow'_?!"

Gally stares at him like he's dumb, "English actually does have a word for _'the day after tomorrow'_. It's called _'overmorrow'_ , but no one uses that word anymore. Anyway, how did you ended searching for that word?"

"Oh," he gives him a sheepishly look, "I was actually looking for a word from the list I didn't understood in the dictionary, but then I found this word and, hehe, got distracted."

The tall blond rolls his eyes and sits down, "Speaking of that, how's that list going?"

" _Ugh_ , don't even get me started. It makes me so frustrated that I want to defenestrate someone."

"Really? You're going to use that word?"

"What? I just found out about it today. Let me enjoy it."

 

* * *

 

At lunch, Teresa, Sara and Clear decided to talk to Michelle in private. They went to the library, where almost no one went during lunch. The tall girl had her back at them, and the other three were around her.

"What's the meaning of this?" asks Teresa.

"Of what?"

"What do you mean _'of what?'_? I'm talking about Sam! What the heck is going on?!"

"She failed."

"Failed?"

Michelle turns to look at them, "Last night, I got a call from Sam. She said she wanted to quit so I told her how to do that." she looks down for a moment as if she were thinking, "But the fact that she disappeared means that she failed at it. That or she talked about it to other people-

"Stop it!" yelled Clear, "Give her back! Give Sam back to us!"

"Don't get the wrong idea." Michelle walks to the nearest bookshelf and grabs a book, opening it but not exactly reading it, "I didn't force you guys into this. You were the ones who said you wanted to do it."

Sara bites her lip, "Well, you're right about that, but..."

"So what will you do? Will you quit or continue?"

"I'll quit." Teresa said, making the other girls look at her, "I don't want to go this far to get my wish."

Sara and Clear nod, agreeing with her.

Michelle closes the book and smiles at them, "I see." with that she turns around and leaves the library.

Teresa had a bad feeling, but she was decided in leaving this for good.

 

* * *

 

"What's with you?"

After school finished, Teresa had decided to walk home instead of taking the bus or having a ride from Gally and Aris. After the lunch, she spent the rest of the classes feeling nervous. It was as if her guts were trying to tell her something, but they were speaking another language. As she crossed the street, she found Minho waiting for her, leaning against a streetlamp.

"Uh?"

Minho uncrossed his arms, "Something must have happened. I'll think it through with you." he offered.

Teresa felt somehow happy that her friend was worried about her and wanted to help her. "Minho... Actually-

She gets a shiver down her back and she remembers what Michelle said,

_'If you tell anyone, you'll be cursed.'_

As fast as she opened her mouth she closes it, looking down at the ground. "It's nothing."

"No way it's nothing. You've been acting suspiciously since this morning."

"It's none of your business!" and with that she walked past him and started leaving.

"Oh, I see! Alright then! It's none of my business!"

As he continued yelling at her, she began to hasten the pace, and the only thing she could think of while she ran away was _'I'm sorry.'_

 

* * *

 

The sky was dark and the night was chilly. Teresa was standing in front of her house holding two identical jade stones. She then remembered Michelle's words, the ones she had told them after lunch time.

_"There's one way to negate the contract. Stand at your front door at 2 a.m. and strike these stones together while you chant the spell."_

Gripping tight at the stones and swallowing hard, Teresa began to recite the spell,

"Following the law of darkness passed down since ancient times, pass judgment on me in accordance with the blood contract!" as she closed her eyes for a moment, she didn't saw as the dark clouds covered the moon, "Grant me the mercy that I would desire of the great darkness!" she takes a deep breath and she's about to strike the stones when suddenly out of the shadows two green eyes appear,

_"Stop that!"_

And Aris in his cat form strikes the stones away from Teresa's hands, making them fall and shatter on the ground. The raven girl looks at him,

"Aris! What are you doing?"

The cat turns his head to her, "That's my line! What you tried to do was the Ritual of Darkness, meant to erase your existence!"

"What?"

The cat turns his head to the pieces lying on the dirt, "If someone told you to do this, she's no ordinary person."

Teresa stares at the pieces and at the cat, her eyes wide and her heart beating faster than ever. Realization hits her, "Oh, no!"

Once inside her house, she quickly launches to the phone and dials Clear's house phone. She stays in her place, waiting for someone to pick up. Aris stares at her from the floor. Fortunately someone picks up the phone.

Teresa clutches the phone, "Hello? I'm so sorry to call at this hour, but is Clear there?"

An elderly woman -Clear's grandmother, she thinks- answers, _"Huh? Clear? There's no such girl living here."_

Teresa feels a stab in her gut and she stays still, eyes wide.

_"Hello? Who are you? Hello?"_

The phone slips from Teresa's hands, falling to the floor.

 _"How rude, at this hour..."_ then must have hung up because from the floor the 'call ended' tone could be heard.

Teresa can't move. _'What should I do?'_

Moving his tail, Aris takes a step closer, "Teresa, are you sure she's really human?"

Suddenly, the ended call tone it's cut and then a voice comes from the speaker,

**_"Why didn't you do it?"_ **

Teresa turns her head at the phone startled. That was Michelle's voice.

**_"The other two did as they were told."_ **

Swallowing hard, Teresa turns around, ready to run to the stairs when a figure appears standing a few feet in front of her, blocking her way. It was Michelle, but she looked different. Her face turned into a lilac color and it had veins all over her face. Her eyes were glowing yellow and they looked bigger, even though she wasn't looking at Teresa directly.

In an instant, Aris' fur stands erect, pupils fully dilated and showing his fangs, "Run! She's dangerous!" and launches at Michelle, scratching her face.

Teresa comes out of her shock and runs pass them, glancing behind one more time as she shouts "Thank you, Aris!" and opens the door, running upstairs.

As the door closes, the girl manages to separate the cat from her face,

"Why? Why are you siding with a human when you are like me?!"

Aris snarls, "Ha! _Me_ , like _you_? Not a chance! And I may not be human's number one fan, but I hate underhanded supernatural creatures like you even more!"

He manages to jump high in the air to scratch her face, digging his claws deeper in her flesh. She yells and hits him, separating him from her face once more and as she covers her face, Aris leaps to the front and runs upstairs, just as Teresa is closing her door. She notices him,

"Quick!"

He enters the room and she slams the door closed, putting the lock on and even a chair in front.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god-

"That's not helping!" hissed the cat, licking at his wounds, "Calm down."

Teresa took a step back, eyes glued at the door. She didn't even blink, she couldn't. If she did maybe that thing would enter. She was so concentrated in the door that she doesn't register the shadow behind her until a knocking on her window startles her, making her yell and turn to face the window, only to find Minho there.

_"Teresa!"_

"Minho! What are you-

"We don't have time for the whole _'how did you knew I was in trouble?'_ talk, just get over here!"

The raven girl doesn't lose any more time and does as she's told. She runs to the window and starts opening it when a crash is heard outside her door. She turns to it and sees the knob trying to be turned around, but it can't because of the lock. Once she opens the window, she can see Minho is standing over her neighbor's ladder.

"Come on!"

Teresa holds her arms open for Aris to jump into them so she can carry him. He does so at the same time there's another crash at the door, the wood cracking. She goes through the window and with Minho's help they both manage to get down the ladder and onto the ground. They hear the honk of a car and she turns to see Gally in his truck, motioning for them to come over.

"Hurry!" he yells.

Minho and Teresa run towards the truck. There's a loud breaking sound coming from Teresa's room and suddenly they see the figure of Michelle looking out the window. They all feel their blood run cold; Minho, who is in the co-pilot seat turns to Gally with a scared face.

"Drive! Drive! _DRIVE!_ "

Gally shifted from Neutral to first in an instant, his foot pressing harder the gas pedal, everyone feeling the truck's speed pick up as they drove away. As they drove, Minho turned at Teresa,

"Now, explain why did we have to come to save your ass and we don't even have a freaking idea to what are we fighting?"

The raven girl can't say anything; she's petrified. "I-I-

"She found the spirit of a dead witch." says Aris still in his cat form.

"You _what?!_ "

The car pulled around a curve, jolting everyone inside the truck; Minho hitting his head in the window and Teresa and the cat falling off their seat.

The Asian male turns angry at Gally, "Hey, we're trying to have a conversation here! Could you not do that again?!"

Not taking his eyes from the road, the blonde answers, "I'm sorry, I'm trying to get us out of this situation alive!"

"What do you mean? That thing is far behind us!"

"Try again, handsome."

Minho frowns and he looks at where Aris is looking, which is at the rear windshield. He, Teresa and Aris see as something is approaching them, still at a far distance but yet it was getting closer. Gally quickly looks at the rearview mirror and shifts into second gear.

"Drive faster! It's getting closer!" yells Aris.

"That's what I'm doing!"

Gally glances at the side view mirror and like that scene from Jurassic Park the tall blond sees the **"Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear"** warning legend and the creature running faster behind them. Gally doesn't lose time and presses harder on the gas pedal.

"Do we even have an idea to where are we going?!" asks the raven girl.

"The school."

"The school?"

"Yeah, Thomas and Newt are there. They must have everything settled."

Teresa frowns. This was happening too fast she was getting dizzy. "What do you mean with _'everything settled'_?"

"You'll see!"

 

* * *

 

They managed to arrive at school in one piece. Once they got to school grounding, they didn't even turn off the engine; they just sprang out of the truck and ran inside the building. Teresa was holding Aris still in his cat form as they ran upstairs. Once they got to the Chemistry lab they knocked on the door and waited. Newt opened the door for them and they entered the classroom in a hurry, trying not to make noise. Thomas was looking over the closed windows as Newt stared at them.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Newt.

"I think I left a lung out there." Minho said, clutching at his chest.

Teresa nodded at the blond, still holding the cat. Thomas approaches their side, standing beside Newt.

"You sure you're all okay?" he asked.

"It could've been worst." Aris said.

Thomas' eyes widen as he points at the cat, "Holy sh- you can talk?!"

"Of course I can talk."

"But you never talked before."

"Oh yeah, because a talking cat is not something to be suspicious of."

 _"Quiet!"_  Gally said as he looked over the door's window.

Feeling her heart no longer wanting to explode in her chest, Teresa puts Aris down on the floor and turns to the rest of them, "H-how did you knew?"

Thomas points at his best friend. "Minho told us."

Confused, she turns to look at Minho, who looks like he's been caught. "I, uh, I didn't knew, _per se_. You were acting weird, and avoiding us, and... Aris found out about the witch and that it was on the list, so..." he said pointing at the cat.

Teresa never felt more thankful for something in her life. "Thanks," she says with a smile, "I really appreciate it."

Aris turns to Minho too, "Yeah, good thing you showed up, otherwise it would've been a... _CAT_ astrophe!"

He made a pause and waited for someone to laugh or say something, but no one did. Gally just stares back at him not amused.

"No? Anyone? Alright~" he starts licking his fur.

"What's gonna happen now?" asked the girl.

"Don't worry, we have a plan." the cat seems to smirk, "I made it all by myself."

"Oh, you made it all by yourself?" asked Gally with an incredulous and mocking face.

The cat hisses. "Yes, I did! And let me tell you-

Thomas holds up a hand to stop them and shush them. He's staring at the blank space with his brows furrowed. "She's here."

Forget his fight with the tall blond, the cat takes his time to talk, "Okay. Is everything settled?"

"Just like you told Newt."

"Okay. Let's do this."

They move to get out of the room, first Newt and Thomas to where the trap is settled, Teresa supposes. As Gally and Aris are peering out of the classroom, Teresa is a few steps away from them, observing them. She feels nervous. What if this doesn't work? What if something goes wrong? What if she gets hurt or any of them?

She's about to move further when she feels a hand on her shoulder and turns to see Minho. The raven boy takes his hand off,

"I, I just wanted to say... uh, that you don't have to be nervous or anything. It's going to be alright. I'll protect you! Not that I think you need someone to protect you; you aren't weak or anything- _Ugh!_ Okay, let me start this again." he clears his throat and looks into her eyes with a look she can't describe, "Teresa, I promise you that while I'm around nothing bad will happen to you. I'll protect you."

He then holds up his pinky, waiting for her to do the same. Teresa stares at it and holds up her pinky and intertwines it with his to signify that a promise has been made. They look at each other and smile.

 

* * *

 

Near the entrance door, a figure was seen over the hallways, lurking in the shadows. Michelle was not in fact walking, but levitating, making her way further into the school grounding. She stopped in the middle of the hall, and turned her lilac face to the side, big yellow eyes roaming over the lockers.

"I know you are here, girl. You can't hide from me." she started walking slowly. "You think because your friends now know you're safe?" she snorts, "Not a chance. In fact, it will be so much better to have an audience while I end you." she turns around the corner and gets to the next hall, "But you had to make this harder and get away with that traitor cat."

As she continued talking, the gang prepared themselves. Not too far from there Teresa was hiding, holding a Swiss knife with both hands, close to her chest.

"You know, it's such a waste of time. Why don't you just come out and finish this? I have more important things to do... Like finding new victims."

Teresa turned her head to the right, listening carefully.

"Those girls were too easy. Desperate to make their pitiful wishes come true. One wishing for true love, other for losing weight. Pathetic!" her steps were getting closer, "But you? You were on another level. What was your wish? Oh, I remember know." when she next spoke her voice sounded like Teresa: " _'I want my friends and family to be safe from any danger that may and will come.'_ " she lets out a dry snort. "You have heart and are loyal. Just because of that I will allow you a quick dead."

Teresa was hiding inside a double locker, enough for her to fit inside and continued to clutch the knife closer. Through the slits of the locker she saw a shadow approaching over the hall so she closed her eyes and breathed through her nose, trying not to make too much noise. She felt the presence grow closer and then it disappeared. Teresa opened her eyes and stared at the subtle lights entering through the slits before a pair of yellow and big eyes appeared on the slits of the locker.

_"Gotcha!"_

The locker's door was tore away, clattering on the floor as Michelle grabbed the girl by the shoulders and threw her to the ground, hovering over her.

"Guys, now!" Teresa yelled.

In that instant and before the witch could react, an ivory colored almost silky like net fell over the witch, taking her down to the floor as she yelled. Teresa plunged the Swiss knife over a piece of net and on the floor, sticking the witch to the floor. Minho appeared of out nowhere and helped her get on her feet as they took a step away. Michelle tried to get up and rip it away but it was futile; the net wouldn't come off.

" _Ghaa!_ Whaa- _urgh_ , what is this?!"

The black cat jumped out of his hide, "Mermaid hair. Can be stronger than steel if used correctly."

Michelle continued to struggle against the net.

"Newt, now!"

The blond witch came out of his hide and was holding a medium size jar; he opened it and poured some of its content over the floor.

Michelle saw what he saw doing and she struggled harder until her hand was free and before they knew it she launched at the black cat, whose eyes widened as she managed to grab him. Her long fingers turned into claws and soon they were on his side. Aris let out a painful snarl.

She retracted her clawed hand, raising it up to give another punch when someone whistles to get her attention.

_"Hey!"_

The bad witch turned around and saw Teresa smirking at her. Taking a chance while she was distracted, Gally slides along the floor in a swift move and grabs the cat from the floor, sliding away from the witch. Michelle turned back to the raven girl and saw something in her hand; she was holding a cork top in her hand.

"Time's up, witch."

She remembers Newt and turns his way, only to find him already finished and putting a corkless jar over the floor as it starts shining. The spell starts working and soon it's pulling the bad witch towards the jar. Michelle started yelling and screeching as she fell to the ground, still being trapped by the mermaid's hair; she's being dragged into the jar by the spell. She screams and tries to claw her way out but it only makes a horrible noise against the floor. She continues that until half her body is inside the jar and then it suddenly it sucked inside, disappearing from the floor. Teresa gives the cork to Newt and he puts it on, sealing it.

Everything falls in silence. Their hearts are still beating fast and they need to catch their breath. The gang was out in the hall, all staring at the jar now over Newt's hands.  A few steps away Sara, Clear and Sam were lying unconscious on the floor.

"Are they..." starts asking Teresa.

"They're unconscious. Don't worry, they'll wake up and think this was all but a bad dream." answers Aris still in his cat form. He licks his side wound.

"You okay?"

"Slight bruising, that's all. Cup of tea, and I'll be right as rain. Now, can someone please give me my cuff so I can change back? I'm freezing over here!"

Gally nodded and Newt gave him the strap bag they had brought with spare clothes and Aris' cuff. The tall guy took out the cuff and walked to the nearest classroom, putting it down together with the bag.

"About time!"

The black cat enters the classroom as Gally exits it, and walks to the guys, his back turned at the classroom to give Aris privacy as he transforms and changes into clothes.

Teresa was still standing in the same place, looking down at the spot where the Michelle- the witch had been stuck with her Swiss knife. Minho approached her, standing beside her and watching her expressions.

"So is it over?" asked Teresa.

"Yeah,"

Teresa let out a relieved sigh and then her eyes shut and she fell sideways almost collapsing against Minho, but he was fast and held her tight by the waist.

"Teresa!"

Everyone turned to the raven girl with worry but Aris' voice calmed them.

_"She's fine. She hasn't been able to sleep well this last two days, that's why she's tired."_

"So she's just tired?" asked Minho still looking at the unconscious girl.

_"Yep,"_

"Then we should let her sleep." Gally said as he turned around, hoping to see the witch behind him but there was no one. He frowns, "Hey, what's taking so long?"

Instead of the lighter brunet appearing to sight, the black cat walked towards them, holding the cuff on his mouth. Why hadn't Aris changed back? The cat puts the cuff down on the floor and staring back at them he says,

"I can't- I can't change back."

There was a deep silence. Gally blinked once, twice and two more times before opening his mouth.

"What?"

The cat decided that it was better to show than to explain, so he touched the leather cuff with his paw but nothing happened.

"I can't change back."

_"WHAT?!"_

_"I. CAN'T. CHANGE. BACK!"_

"Not that kind of _'what?'_! H-how?! _Why_?!"

"Do I look like I know?!" the car hissed, ears back.

Gally kneeled down to pick up the cuff, inspecting it closer. Thomas took a step forward.

"Is it broken?" he asked.

"It's not that simple. Maybe it's because of the witch or maybe... I don't know. I'm not really an expert in this kind of things."

"What does that mean?" asked the cat on the floor, moving his tail.

Gally turned to him, cuff in hand and with a stern look he said,

"You'll have to stay as a cat until we can figure a way to turn you back."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new character appears: forensic scientist Alexander "Alec" Montgomery (face claim: Grant Gustin); don't lose sight of him, he's going to be appearing from now on and you'll like him, trust me.  
> From the next chapter and on, it will turn a little bit dark (just a little bit, kinda), so I hope you don't mind.
> 
> -Creatures found: 1 - Witch's ghost.  
> -Ingredients/other stuff: 0.
> 
> -Number of jars: 15.  
> -Jars obtained 'till now: 9.  
> *Nymphs - 3.  
> *Mountain ash - 1.  
> *Goblin eyes - 1.  
> *Switch - 1.  
> *Mermaid hair - 1.  
> *Moss and fungus - 1.  
> *Witch's spirit - 1.


	8. Something Wicked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I'm back! Sorry if it was too long to wait, but there was something going on with my school and turns out I have to re-do an exam because there was a problem with the administration or something like that so... Ughh...  
> But I made some time to finish this chapter and post it, and I swear I won't delay with the next one!  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks for the ones who waited~

It had been three days since Aris couldn't change back into human, and he was lounging in the mansion in his cat form. Gally still tried to decipher what was wrong with the cuff, but couldn't find anything. He had sent a letter to the Council, but he had yet to receive an answer. To cover up Aris' absence at school they decided to tell the teacher's he was sick. They bought it, of course.

Aris was currently over the living room's floor, sitting and staring around while moving his tail.

Teresa kneeled closer to the cat, "How are you feeling, Aris?"

"How would you feel if you got stuck in a cat's body?"

_"Hey!"_ they heard Gally's voice from the kitchen, "She's being nice to you! Behave!"

Back at the kitchen, Gally was sitting on one of the stools, and Thomas was sitting there too.

"So still nothing?" asked the brunet.

"I don't have any idea what might've caused it. The Council of magic hasn't answered me, so until then we all can do is wait."

"And what about Aris?" he asks glancing at the cat over the living room.

"What about Aris? He stays like that." he shrugs, "That's part of his punishment in the first place, anyways, so there's nothing new."

"But he's been like that for three days."

"He's less annoying like that."

Deep down Thomas knew that even thought Gally said that, he was still worried about Aris. Because it was his job or because he really did cared, who knew. He glanced back at where the cat was. He felt bad for Aris; he had to stay like that for a couple of days... But what if they couldn't turn him back and he had to stay like that forever? Would he be able to live as a cat? Newt was still a learning witch and couldn't do things like turn Aris back into his human form. Thinking about the blond, Thomas wished he was here. Unlike him and Teresa, Newt and Minho had to go to their respective homes but they promised they would come later.

Gally's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Anyways, it's almost dinner time. Shouldn't you be at home? Your guardians may be worried."

"No, I already told Mary I was going to be here. She's gotta leave in an hour for work anyways, so the house will be empty."

"What about the man?"

"Vince's at work. He got called for an emergency."

 

* * *

 

Alec was standing in the middle of the crime scene, staring at the whole picture. They were on the street, the deputies trying to make the people who were starting to collect around the scene to stay back, the coroner standing over the ambulance and taking out his stuff, Vince talking to some deputy and pointing at the whole area, the birds chirping, the body lying on the ground a few centimeters away from him, the sun burning over his clothes, but... Something felt... off. Almost like if someone was there, observing them, observing the scene. No, not someone. _Something-_

His thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of the sheriff, "Nobody's paying you to stand around and goddamn stare!"

Alec shakes his head and his thoughts away, "Sorry, sheriff." and gives him a sheepishly smile as he kneels over the body.

"Found anything worth enough to tell me about it?"

"Female. In her late 30's. Blonde. She has been dead at least for 3-4 hours max. She didn't had an identification with her, so it will be more difficult to ID the victim." he slowly turns her face to show a bloodied wound over her temple, "By the blunt trauma on the head I could say she hit her head in the pavement, but I can't see any clear wound in her body, which is kind of confusing."

"So what? Was it a hit and run or something else?"

"I can't know for sure until the coroner checks the body."

The sheriff nods, "Okay." he turns around and looks at the coroner, whistling at him to get his attention, "You! The coroner! What's your name?" he asks as the man starts approaching them.

"Uh, Wendell Dalton-

"I didn't ask you the story of your life. You and Mr. Grim here are going to check the body together, _capiche_?" he doesn't even wait for the coroner to nod, he just turns around and leaves.

Alec glances at the coroner, tugging at his hat and offers him a smile, "Forgive him, he has a heart condition... He doesn't have one." the coroner snorts at that, and nods. "Come on, help me with the body."

 

* * *

 

A few hours later, the gang was still waiting for Newt and Minho to come to the mansion. Thomas was over the living room, Gally was upstairs, checking on the books Aris had for answers, and Teresa was at the bathroom. As the brunet was lounging over the couch, his phone vibrated in his jeans, so he took it out and looked at the incoming text.

**_'Hey, can u pick me up? 'm at my house.' -Min._ **

Thomas sits straight, stretching his arms when another text comes but it wasn't from Minho.

**_'Tommy, can you pick me up? I'm outside my house and my mom had to go to do the groceries and couldn't drive me.' -Newt._ **

Thomas immediately sprung to his feet and went to the stairs as Teresa came out of the bathroom. He stopped and turned to her.

"Hey, you think Gally would mind if I take his truck?"

"Yes."

Thomas groans.

"Why?"

"Both Minho and Newt want me to go for them and I think they meant Gally because I don't have a car and they don't seem to have realized that."

"You can take my car." Teresa said.

Thomas nods and yells a _'thanks'_ over his shoulder as he grabs Teresa's car keys from the coffee table and runs to the door. Minutes later after he left and Teresa went to sit on the single couch chair, legs draped over the arms of the chair when Gally came downstairs, raising an eyebrow.

"What was that?" he looked around, "Where's Thomas?"

She sat up straight, "He went to pick up Newt."

"Champ at the bit."

They heard a loud crash over the kitchen. Looking at each other and knowing they were the only ones left, they ran to where the noise came from and found the black cat over the counter with a plastic cookie jar around his head. It seemed like it was stuck. They forgot about him.

Teresa raised an eyebrow, "Aris, caught with your head in the cookie jar?"

"Hurry! Please hurry! I've been in here for over an hour!" his voice sounded different because of the object around his head.

"Why didn't you call us sooner?" Gally asks.

"It wasn't a problem until I ran out of chocolate chips."

Teresa crosses her arms over her chest, "Aris, is this a desperate cry for help?"

"No, this is: _Help! I'm running out of air!_ "

Gally pinches the bridge of his nose and lets out a sigh. "I guess we should remove it." he turns to Teresa, "I'm gonna drive him to the vet. You wanna come?" the cat's eyes widen.

"Not the vet! Cold hands, cold table and the probing!" he starts sobbing, "Oh, the probing!"

"The perfect way to teach you a lesson." the tall blond says as he goes to pick him up.

"I should have suffocated when I had the chance."

 

* * *

 

Thomas drove to the blond's house first. He found Newt sitting over the steps, head raised so he was looking at the now orange sky. Thomas admired the view before the other noticed him and smiled; getting up on his feet and walking towards the car. After he picked Newt up he was about to go to Minho's house when a text from Vince told him to come to the station. Asking the blond witch if he didn't mind, he drove there and both he and Newt entered the building. He glanced at Vince's office and found the door open and the place empty.

He turned to Newt to say "Wait here." and then he turned around to approach one of the deputies on their desk. "Hey, Dagger. Where's Vince?"

"He had to go check something. He said he wouldn't be out long."

Thomas nodded and went back to where Newt was.

"Seems like this might take a while. Wanna take a seat?" he nodded to the direction where the chairs were. The witch nodded and they went to sit down.

They sat and looked at the deputies walking around, some others on their desks answering the phone, others looking at the papers on their hands. Thomas glanced at the boy beside him and found him fidgeting in his seat.

"First time in police station?" he asked.

"Yeah. The only time I stepped into a police station was when I was 7 years-old and my friend had lost her dog, so we both went to report it as missing."

Thomas chuckled at that. "When I was little I used to spend the afternoons in here. Both Mary and Vince had to work, and they didn't like the idea of a kid staying home alone. I would usually do my homework here, and sometimes play with some deputy."

"And what about your dad? I mean, if I can ask."

Thomas sighed. "He works almost all the time. He's not in Beacon Hills at the moment actually. Normally it's just Vince, Mary and me."

"Don't you get lonely?"

"Not at all. I mean, when I was little, yeah, but..." he smiles, "They are part of my family."

Newt smiles at him and Thomas can smell that the nervous scent has faded away. He's glad he could help. The blond continues to stare at him when a figure standing behind the brunet caught his eyes.

"Thomas? Who's the tall guy covered in layers?"

Thomas turns around and saw Alec approaching the desk of one of the deputies and grabbing a pair of scissors. He extended his arm and cut some loose thread from his long sleeve. He smiled happily at himself.

"Oh. He's the forensic scientist, Alec."

"Why does he dress like that? The sun is shining and it must be like 35 degrees outside."

"He's allergic to sun."

Newt blinks a few times, "What? Really?"

"Yeah, he gets this itchy red rash on his skin every time he's exposed to sunlight and he needs to get inside before it gets worse. That's why his shift it's at night."

"And what if they need help in here and he needs to come when there's still sun?"

"He comes all cover up. Long sleeves, wide-brimmed hat, gloves."

"Wow."

"Yeah, but he's a nice guy."

And in that moment, as if he felt being observed, Alec raises his head so he's looking at them and a smile appears over his face, waving at them. Thomas and Newt wave back at him. Thomas seemed to forget that he was supposed to pick up Minho too, but he was far more interested in the things Newt told him about the place he used to live.

 

* * *

 

There was a knock on the door before someone opened the door of the mansion to get inside. Minho closed the door and took off his jacket,

"Thomas?" no response, "Thomas, where are you?" he walks to the living room to find it empty. "You were supposed to go pick me up like half hour ago. I had to take a cab and that money was from my savings. What took you so long?" he goes to enter the kitchen, "I swear, if you are making googly-eyes at _you-know-who_ , you-" he stops once he enters the kitchen and sees not Thomas -or anybody else- but the black cat over the counter, green eyes staring back at him, "Oh, hey. Where's Thomas?"

"I think he went to pick you and Newt up. But seeing you here then it means he only made half of his task."

"Those two, I swear..." he sighs and shakes his head, "Where's Gally and Teresa?"

The cat licks his paw, "Teresa had to go to her house. Her mom asked her something, I don't know what... And Gally went to give her a ride."

"Great. Now I have to wait here for everyone else to come back." he sits on one of the stools of in front of the counter. He looks around the kitchen before he looks at the cat, "So... How does it feel being a cat?"

"This is not my first time as a cat."

"I know, I meant... You know..."

The cat stares at him while he moves his tail, "It's great. Except for the hair balls."

"And being naked."

"Nahh, that's not so bad." he glances at the kitchen clock and an idea comes to his mind.

"Hey... You are not busy right now, are you?"

Minho shrugs, "I'm here, aren't I?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

"I'm not going to clean up your litter box."

"I don't have a litter box."

"Then how- You know what, I don't want to know. What is it?"

 

* * *

 

Thomas and Newt continued to wait for Vince until the man entered the building and went straight to his office, not noticing his godson sitting in the station. Thomas did notice him, so he went to follow him.

"Vince!"

The older man stopped in his tracks a few meters away from his office and turned to face the brunet teen.

"Thomas. What are you doing here?"

Thomas frowns, "You told me to meet you here. You sent me a text."

"I did?" he takes out his phone and checks it, "Huh. Maybe I send it to you when I meant someone else. Sorry to make you come all the way here, buddy."

"It's okay."

Vince looks at something behind Thomas and nods at that direction. "Is that one of the witches?"

Thomas looks over his shoulder at where Newt was sitting.

"Yeah,"

"He seems nice."

_'He is.'_ he thought.

In that moment Alec approached them with a file on hands. He smiled at the brunet,

"Hey, Thomas. How nice to find you here~"

"Hi, Alec." he turns around and acts as if he were going to go back to his seat -well, he did- but he focused his hearing in order to hear their conversation. Not that he was a snooper, but there was something that told him to hear them, so he did.

"Anything?" asked Vince as the other gave him the file.

"Well, someone did came to claim the body and we have a better ID. Name: Michelle Tucker, 38 years-old. The husband came to fill in a missing person report."

"Did the coroner check the body?"

"Yes, he did. He said that by the blunt trauma in her head and that she didn't had any defensive wounds in her body that it wasn't a murder. Maybe it was a hit and run. He also said she was missing a kidney."

"Maybe she had a surgery. Now that we know her identity, ask the M.E. to give you her medical history."

"Yes, sir." with that Alec turned around and went most probably to his lab that was underground the station. Vince went back to his office and closed the door.

Thomas had a bad feeling about this. He didn't knew why but there was something about that death that made him feel uneasy. Maybe he should check it out with Gally and Aris.

 

* * *

 

Minho enters the mansion again, this time holding the black cat over his arms and with a shopping bag hanging over his right arm. They had decided to go out and have some fresh air, and in the end Minho ended up buying -with Gally's money- Aris a pair of new shoes. It sure was weird that he had just bought brand new shoes to a cat. He closes the door with his back to the inside of the house and just as he turns around a blade appears out of nowhere and stuck in the wall just besides Minho's face, almost cutting his cheek. Minho lets out a yelp, dropping the cat and the bag on the floor. With wide eyes he looks at the tall blonde that starts approaching them with anger on his face.

"Where the hell have you been?!"

"Gally, calm down!"

"Yeah, man. We were just out for a little, don't need to worry." Minho says raising both hands like if he was under arrest.

"He took me out on a stroll! Is it that bad?!"

Gally glares at the cat, "Yes, when I'm not around you aren't supposed to get out!"

"Who you think you are? My father?!" the cat runs out of the living room.

"Aris, come back here! Aris, you- Aris!" and the tall blonde goes to chase after him. Minho stays where he is.

The witch had obviously gone to his room, like he didn't even bother to hide. He was sitting over the window, staring at the outside with his tail moving when he felt a presence behind him.

"I want to be alone. Am I allowed to be alone?"

"Don't be an arse." Gally says as he enters the room and approaches the window.

"You're an arse."

The tall blond sits beside him with a considerable distance between them. Like Aris, he stares outside the window.

"I asked him to take me out."

"I know."

"It wasn't his idea. I wanted to go out."

"I know."

"Then why the fuss? I'm not going to escape. Not in this form, at least."

The sandy blond finally looks at him, "It's my job, alright? No matter if I trust you or don't, I need to have an eye on you on every moment."

"Well, that sucks for both of us."

They both stay in silence. They don't even look at each other, just stay where they are, looking outside the window. Aris bows his head to look down at his paws and he's the first to break the silence,

"Do you think I will be able to change back?"

Gally lets out a sigh, "I don't know."

"Is this some kind of punishment? I mean, I already had one, so why? Why now?"

"I don't know. I think we all have some kind of punishment in our lives."

He looks at the tall blond, "What do you think your punishment is?"

"Spending 100 years with Aris Jones." he answers back with a playful tone.

The cat gives him a glare even though he doesn't look mad. The cat chuckles and so does the sandy blond.

"We'll figure this out." Gally says.

Someone clears their throat, interrupting them. They turn around to look that Minho was behind them, hand raised and about to knock on the door.

"Umm, sorry to interrupt, but we need to go to the station. Thomas and Newt are there and I thinks it may have something to do with a creature from the list."

"Okay," Gally stands up and points at the cat, "You stay."

"Why I can't go?"

"What, and have you talk in front of a bunch of deputies without a way of explaining it? No way. You stay."

"Meanie."

Gally shrugs and walks to the door, "Come on, let's go."

 

* * *

 

Driving to the station -after going to pick Teresa up-, the gang met with Thomas and Newt just outside the building. They glanced around at the people coming and leaving, so they decided to move a little farther from the entrance.

Thomas notices they are incomplete so he looks at Gally, "Where's Aris?"

"He's safe at the house. Now, Minho said you thought it had something to do with a creature of the list?"

"I-I don't know. I just got a feeling, and decided to follow it."

"That could be a problem." Teresa says.

"It could be, tho." the others stare at him like he had grown a second head, so he explains himself, "I mean, if it is a creature from the list, it's our lucky day. We've had mountain ash, six nymphs, one Switch, goblin eyes, the spirit of a witch, mermaid hair & moss and fungus. Those were... nine jars in total."

"There are _fifteen_ jars." Gally says.

"Well, why do you like taking the bright side of everything? At least we don't have to worry about nine jars!"

Teresa is quick to speak, "Yeah, but what if it is something far more dangerous? More dangerous than the witch?"

Minho seems to think for a moment before his face falls, "That could be a problem."

As they talk, Thomas suddenly gets a horrible scent, so he turns his head to where it was coming but it's not like whatever it was he smelled was still there. It had been close but... now it was gone. But it was still close, as he could still smell it.

Newt seemed to notice him. "What is it, Thomas?"

"Don't you guys smell that?" he asked narrowing his eyes.

"I can't believe you actually asked that."

Thomas ignores his best friend and decides to follow the scent. The gang follows him. They don't even know where they are going, they just follow Thomas. They are equally confused as Thomas once they stop in front of a sewer.

Minho glanced at his friend, "The sewer?"

"Yep,"

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope."

"So we have to..."

"Yep,"

"I hate you."

Thomas doesn't know why, but something down here was giving off a horrible scent... like dead meat. Blood. And he needed to know what that was. The gang climbed down the sewer drain, following the werewolf. A wave of nausea rolled over him as the foul stench of the sewage below invaded his nostrils. Well, he wasn't the only one. Once down in the sewer, having made sure nobody saw them, they took out their phone and illuminated the place.

"It looked better with the lights off." Teresa says. Minho nods with her.

"Come on, this way." and they all follow his nose.

They continue walking; the only light was from their phones. Thomas didn't need the light of the phones; his werewolf eyes did all the work. They were getting closer to turn around the corner when a noise made them all stop. It sounded like steps but... shorter. They turned around and looked around but didn't saw anyone. But that didn't stop the sound to continue; in fact, it became clearer, which meant it was getting closer.

Then the noise came to an end. They were about to relax when something touched Teresa over her leg. She grabbed the closer hand to hers, which was Minho's, and that startled the Asian male, making both of them yell.

" _Ahh!!_ It touched me! It _touched_ me!"

"Get it!"

Both of them start stomping on the floor, trying to step over whatever it was that touched them. Maybe a rat. Suddenly the rat theory is discarded when they all see glowing eyes in the dark and get startled, but not for too long because Thomas recognizes, even with all the smells down there, the honey-like scent.

"Aris!" he yells and that seems to calm the rest of the gang.

Newt points his phone to the floor so the light is illuminating the black cat staring at them with wide eyes because of the light. He sighs in relief.

"Aris?" Gally narrows his eyes as he looks at the cat, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to help, of course."

"I told you to stay in the house!"

"Yeah, and I told you not to leave me behind but not everyone obeys."

"You should've stayed in the house, now go back there. It's dangerous for you in that form."

"I'm not some weakling little girl that can't take care of himself. Besides, it's not like I could die."

_"Hey!"_ they turn to look at Newt, who is pointing with his phone at something, "I think I heard something."

They all walk towards him and follow the way until they see a long tunnel and a small light coming from above them.

"Maybe that will lead us to whatever your nose is following." Teresa said.

Thomas nods and decides to climb on the ladder and towards the light. Once he gets to the top, he feels the heavy lid preventing him to exit to wherever this tunnel leads. Aris stares at the long tunnel before something comes to his mind. He turns to the rest of the gang,

"Hey, guys-

_"Shh,"_ the tall sandy blond shushes him, that brute.

Thomas continues to push harder until the lid gives; he starts taking the lid off and suddenly he found himself in the street. It was illuminated by the street lights and it was quiet. Before he can ask something, he feels some weight over his shoulder and then the black cat is jumping over the street, sitting in the ground while looking at Thomas.

"It's just the street. That's what I was gonna say. But I think I heard something on the other side--

"Aris! Look out!"

The black cat turns around and sees the bright lights of the incoming bus and his eyes widen for a second. Thomas -because of his instinct- goes down again, dropping the lid to close again and they all hear a 'thud' before the bus drives away. They stay in silence and then Thomas goes up again, this time taking the lid fully away. He helps the rest come up and when he finally turns he, together with the rest of the gang, see the flattened cat on the pavement.

Teresa covers her mouth. "Oh, my God."

Thomas feels something pull at his throat, and puts a hand over his eyes, "It's all my fault." then he turns around.

Newt gently puts a hand over his arm, "Thomas, it's not your fault."

They all stay in silence. Then suddenly the unmoving cat starts doing something weird: his body re-inflates like if it were a balloon being inflated. The others -except Gally- stared in amazement as the black cat was back to normal and alive. The cat then stood up and shook his head,

"I hate it when that happens." he looks at the gang, who is still staring at him, "Well. I told you, I can't die."

Thomas opens his mouth to say something but he doesn't know what, so he shuts it again.

"Are we going to check the tunnel as I said or are you going to stare at me?" the cat jumps back into the sewer.

Over the bushes, something was watching the gang get back inside the sewer again. It clawed its sharp claws over the ground and then left his hiding place.

 

* * *

 

Back inside the sewer, the gang continued to follow the cat into the tunnel. The smell of blood got clearer as they moved on. Turning another corner they finally reached the end of the sewer path, but like before, there was a ladder leading up. Thomas went first, climbing up the ladder and lifting the lid off; he took a quick glance around to what seemed to be an abandoned basement and, seeing no threat, he exits the sewer.

"It's clear!" he yelled to the others and they started to climb up.

He helped Newt first and then they both helped the others. Thomas looked around the basement. This place seemed... familiar. Like if he had been here before. Some broken wood boxes on the floor. A white cotton sheet crumpled over the corner. Two shelves standing straight and other two on the floor with broken pieces of glass underneath it...

Wait a minute...

"This place is..."

"Cole's." finishes Newt holding a pair of chains. The same ones he had been held with.

Gally frowns, "Cole's house? The sewer leads to Cole's house?"

"I always knew he was full of shit." Minho says.

"But why did your nose brought us here? Cole is no longer a threat, he's locked in my vault." Aris said.

Thomas shakes his head. "I don't think this is about Cole."

"So it's a coincidence the scent you caught lead us to his house?" Minho asks.

"Maybe. But something definitely was here. Something not human."

"Let's check upstairs and then get the hell out of here." Teresa shivers, "This place gives me the creeps."

"I'm with her." the raven boy says.

Thomas nodded and they went upstairs. They found themselves over the living room and it looked gloomier than the last time. Everything else looked the same from when they came to rescue Newt and captured Cole. Of course nobody came to move anything. They decided to move upstairs. Maybe they would find something there. Once upstairs, they found several rooms, all with the doors closed.

Minho pointed at one, "We're going to check that room."

Thomas nods. "Okay, be careful."

They nod at him and walk across the hall and towards the room. Thomas and Newt decide to do the same, and so did Gally and Aris.

Gally and Aris enter a room with a table in the middle covered in a white tablecloth and several bookshelves filled with books. They approached the shelves but didn't touch anything. The cat walked to the table and stared at the satchel hanging from Gally's shoulder.

"I've been meaning to ask, what did you brought with you in that satchel?"

"Whatever we could use against whatever thing we find."

The cat climbs over the table, looking at the satchel, "You brought me something?"

"Why would I? You weren't included in the plan." he puts the satchel over the table and starts roaming inside it, taking out a few things like jars. Then Aris' leather cuff rolls out of the bag.

The cat touches it, "You brought that with you? Why?"

"I'm not really sure. I thought that maybe we could need it."

"How's that?"

Gally stops taking stuff out of the satchel and grabs some jars in his hands.

"Stay here. Don't do anything stupid till I get back."

"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you."

Gally rolls his eyes but ignores him, and turns around to leave.

 

* * *

 

Opening the door to the next room, Thomas and Newt made their way inside the room and took a look at it. There were some posters over the walls, a desk on the corner with some papers on it, a large brown closet next to it and there was a bed neat fully made. This had to be Cole's bedroom. They started roaming around the room in effort to determine why did Thomas drove them there because of a scent. While Newt was over the bookshelves, Thomas approached the desk and moved some of the papers over it; his hand brushed over something and his eyes focused on that: a framed photo. There were three people in the photo; two adults -a woman and a man- and a child about ten years-old. The three of them where smiling. They had to be Cole's parents.

"So he did had parents." Thomas turned to show the photo to Newt.

Newt didn't seem interested. "Yeah. And then he killed them for power." he turned back to where he was looking. "I just can't believe someone would do that to the people who gave life to you."

Thomas putted the photo back to where it was. "This room doesn't smell like the scent I got before."

"Then let's check the other one."

 

* * *

 

Aris is still over the table in the room where Gally left him. He could follow orders, but he didn't do it gladly. He looked around the room and then his eyes fell over his cuff beside him. He knew it was worthless, he had been trying it for three days and nothing happened. But neitherless he stretched his paw to touch the cuff, barely moving it an inch when suddenly the cuff is on the other side of the room, almost glued to the books of the bookshelf. Like if it had been made of metal and attracted to it by a magnet. Aris climbs off of the table and walks towards the bookshelf. He stares at it before climbing to the empty part of the shelf, just beside where the books and the cuff where. He raised his paw to touch his cuff, and did not felt the static electricity until a electric discharge went through is body like a lighting falling in front of him, sending him across the room. He opens his mouth as if he was going to scream in pain but not a single noise comes out.

Even in different rooms, the gang hears the loud 'thud' coming from one of the rooms and they don't think twice before running towards it. They enter the room and the first thing they see is the leather cuff over the floor in front of a bookshelf. That was Aris cuff.

Thomas took a step forward, "Aris?!"

And then he saw something and heard something behind the table. He -followed by Gally- slowly made his way to the table and looked behind it and his eyes widened in surprise.

Aris -not the black cat but the human- was lying naked on his side, one of his legs thrown over the front and over his other leg covering his nudity. The lighter brunet witch seemed to wake up, his eyes slowly opening and getting used to his surroundings. Before he can move more and show himself to the gang, Gally rips the white tablecloth off the table and puts it over Aris' shoulders to cover him.

The lighter brunet witch clutches the cloth to his body and blinks several times, staring at Thomas and the gang. He brings a hand to his head and it takes him a few seconds to notice it's not a paw but a hand. His hand. He stares at it and then raises his other hand.

"I'm back?" he looks at the others, "I'm back." he clutches the cloth again and a big smile appears over his face, "I'm back!"

"But how...?" Teresa asks.

"The bookshelf." Thomas looks and walks to the bookshelf, but Aris voice stops him, "Careful. It's protected by magic."

"Yeah, I can feel it." Newt says from where he is standing.

"Wait." Teresa says, "You're not wearing your cuff yet you're still human."

"Maybe now I can do magic even without the cuff." he makes a flick of his wrist but nothing happens. He sighs. "Too good to be true."

Then it was Minho who spoke, "Wait a minute, guys. How are we sure that _it_ works again?"

All their eyes fall on the cuff. Aris slowly takes it and puts it on his wrist. He takes a moment and then takes it off.

They all stare at the black cat that stares back at them.

The cat reaches for the cuff once more and Aris is back to clutch the cloth with his human hands.

"It works." Thomas says, kind of stating the obvious.

"Good thing: Aris came back to normal. Bad thing: we still don't know what was the scent Thomas catch." the raven girl says.

"I don't know you guys but I'm exhausted. Maybe we can go on another _'scent-hunt'_ tomorrow?" Minho asks. They all nod. "Great, now..." he points at Thomas, "Go and check if the door is unlocked. I don't wanna go down the sewer ever again or at least in the same day."

"Roger that."

With that they all leave Gally and Aris alone in the room. The other two stayed in the same place. It was quiet for a moment, neither of them knowing what to say or do to break the tension. Then, Aris' face breaks into a Cheshire cat's grin.

"Hey~ I'm completely naked under here." he says still holding the tablecloth as he waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

Gally stared back at him with a monotonous face, "Ok, I'll go get you some clothes." and goes to turn around and leave.

"Wha- _NO!!_ " he stops when the lighter brunet frowns at him, "You're supposed to wanna peek!"

"Huh? Why?"

Aris sighs and turns around, facing the wall and covering his eyes while muttering " _'Why?'_ he asks..."

He stays like that for a couple of seconds before a voice brings him out of his thoughts,

"I am glad you're back to normal."

Aris opens his eyes but doesn't move from where he is. Suddenly he feels far more naked even if he had a blanket covering him. Neither he or Gally said anything else, and soon the tall sandy blonde leaves the room. Aris turns around to stare at the place where he exited, feeling a blush appear over his face and clutching the blanket closer.

Once they got Aris some clothes, they got out of the house and called for a cab. There was no way they were gonna go back on foot. Thomas stared at the window the whole trip to the sheriff's station where their cars were. Even thought Aris came back to normal, he still didn't knew why they ended up at Cole's house. Sure, in the sewers it had been a strong scent, but once they got to the house it became faint, barely there. Was it a creature from the list? Was it something else? Why blood? Why such a horrible smell? Those where the things Thomas thought of until he fell asleep.

Over the lonely and cold streets of Beacon Hills, a figure in all fours made its way to the limits of the woods and coming back to town. The night was pitch black and there was no one on the streets as the creature continued its way over the street, its claws ticking over the pavement. It opened its mouth, showing its pointy teeth and its tongue came out, lashing around the air before letting out a screeching scream.

 


	9. Peek-A-Boo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay!!

It was late at night over the sheriff's station. There were only three people inside the station including Vince, who was over his office checking some files. Well, _trying,_ at least. It was way past midnight and Vince's eyes are no longer capable of focusing on the letters on the files. God, the things he would do for a cup- no, more like a gallon of coffee right now. But right now he can't leave, so he groans at his misery.

As if by magic, a cup of coffee appears in front of him. Vince stares at it unblinking before he decides to grab it, threading his numb finger through the handle. He looks up at the direction where the coffee had appeared and saw Alec with a tired smile on his face.

"Sorry, sir. You looked like you needed it."

And thank God for this kid. Vince brings the coffee to his face, closing his eyes and inhaling.

"You don't have by any chance some Danish bread with you, do you?"

The younger man's eyes light up and he laughs softly. "No, sir. Sorry about that."

"Well, life isn't perfect." he takes a sip and glorious dark liquid, he needed that. "How's Smith doing?"

Alec frowns, "I think he already left."

"Really? That bastard. _'I'll stay with you, sir, until the shift ends'_ , yeah, right."

"Well, I'm still here."

Vince smiles, "Yes, you are." he raises his coffee, "And I'm thankful for that."

Alec offers him a smile and soon turns around to leave. Vince stood in his place, not moving at all because of that last gesture Alec did. Sure, he always smiled at everyone but that smile... It had been different from when he's usually smiling at things. It seemed to have another meaning. A red light was blinking inside Vince's head but he decided to overlook it and continued drinking from his coffee.

 

* * *

 

Newt was walking towards school. He had woke up with a fever and his grandma hadn't let him go to school, but once he felt better he insisted to at least letting him go to his last class, in which he had to deliver a fifteen pages long paper to the teacher. His grandma agreed and soon he was walking towards the school.

As he walk along the street walk, school not that far, he felt something weird and he stopped in his tracks. He turned his head to the right and to the woods and he felt it again. Like if he had the need to go into the woods. With still some time left before the last class started, he adventured into the woods, gripping his satchel hard.

He didn't knew why he was there in the first place. He no longer felt that pull, but here he was. Maybe he should go back. This was stup-

That's when he heard a strange noise. He stilled and looked around but there was no one there. Or was it? What if it was a creature from the list? Or maybe some perv who was following him? He had forgotten his spellbook at home, and all the spells he knew were defensive and protection ones -like a shield or force field-, but right now it wouldn't work. Maybe he can use the spell his mom taught him to freeze someone for just a minute. It won't be that much, but he could at least escape.

He walked towards where the noise came from and gulped, raising his hand in case he needed to cast a spell and with the other hand he went to move away the bush. He took some air and like taking off a band-aid he did it quick; but instead of a perv or a magical creature, there sitting on the ground was a little girl with long wavy brown hair and pale olive skin. She had some flowers on her right side of the head like a headband, and was wearing a dark brown dress with red on the collar. She looked up at Newt wide green eyes, and he knew she was afraid.

"Oh, hey. Hey, there." he spoke in a soft and low voice. He lowered his hand, "Sorry I startled you. You also startled me, so we are even, alright?" he added a smile.

The little girl didn't answer but she returned his smile.

"Are you lost?" Newt holds his hand out for the girl, "Here, let me help you." the little girl seems to hesitate, maybe not too fond of strangers, but then she takes his hand and he helps her get up from the ground.

That's when he notices the tiny pretty green fairy wings behind her back.

 

* * *

 

Thomas was at his History class and instead of being bored, or tired, or wanting to get the hell away from there, he was actually content. Today had started like a good day. Maybe it was going to be a normal day. No magical creatures, he got waffles as breakfast, he aced his math test from last week. The only thing that was kind of off was that Newt hadn't come to school. He had heard that he woke up sick and that's why he could come, which was somehow a relief. At least he was safe in his house.

Right now Thomas was listening to what the teacher was explaining over the board when he received a text, his phone silently vibrating in his pocket. He took it out carefully so the teacher wouldn't notice and read it,

**_'I need your help. Meet me in the parking lot of the back.' -Newt._ **

He literally had to grip his desk to not jump out of it and out of the classroom. He glanced at the clock on the wall. There was still 30 minutes for the class and school to end, but he now was jumpy. Because of Newt. Wasn't he supposed to be sick? Then why he asked him to meet him at school? Was he here? Was he in trouble? Danger?

He raised his hand and asked to go to the bathroom. Soon he found himself walking towards the back door of the school and outside, over the parking lot. He didn't need to look around; he just sniffed lightly into the air and he turned his head where the scent of cinnamon came from. He saw the blond witch where some cars were parked at the back. He ran towards him and the blond took some steps forward to meet him.

"What? What is it? Are you hurt? You okay?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine." Thomas mentally let out a sigh of relief. "But I still need your help."

Before Thomas can ask, Newt is moving and walking to the back of a car and he kneels and holds his hand to something. The something -more like someone, judging by the tiny hand- extends their hand to grab his and soon a little girl with brown hair is standing beside Newt. But that's not what catches his attention but the green fairy wings.

Yep, too calm to be a normal day in Beacon Hills.

 

* * *

 

Back at the sheriff's station, Vince was in his office, checking some files when he got a call. After he finished the call he sighed. He grabbed his phone and kept it in his pants. He was about to call for Alec when he saw said man walking past his office, so he called him.

"Alec!"

The brunet man came back and stood by the door, holding a coffee in his hand.

"Yes, sir?"

"Morales called. Looks like we have another body. Care to join me?"

"Sure, sir."

Vince stands up and grabs his coat from behind his seat, putting it on and brushing off the dust.

"Boss, have you been working out?"

"Not particularly. Why?"

Alec shrugs, "It's just that while you were putting your jacket, your arms seemed a little bit more... Stronger."

"Huh," the older man just looks at the right and back at the other man, "Okay..."

Alec exits the office without another word and Vince stays there in the same place. What the hell? Now he was positive. This guy was flirting with him. Oh dear god, Alec had a highschool girl crush on him. Why- what- when? When did this happen? Has it always been like that? Did he do something to make him think he was interested?

If this was a crush, he would have to make things clear to Alec. He wasn't gay and he isn't interested. Flattered, but not interested.

Now he had to go into a crime scene with him. God help him.

 

* * *

 

Over the mansion at Aris' room, the lighter brunet witch was over his desk, several books and papers -including the list- and a small red berry over it. He was still trying to decipher the last part of the list when Gally knocked on his door.

"You still with that?" he asks.

"Yeah, here it says there's a fairy, belladonna which I already found, thank you very much," the tall blond rolls his eyes, "and I still need to identify this, but I'm pretty sure it's a type of rowan berries." he says while pointing at the smashed red berry in front of him.

They hear someone knocking on the main door and then a familiar voice yelling,

_"Guys! Open up! It's Thomas!"_

"It's open!" yells Gally over his shoulder.

"Don't be lazy and go open him. I know you want to be with me that much, but at least have some manners." Aris says.

"Oh yeah, like spending 100 years with you isn't enough."

"Hey, um, guys? We have a situation here."

At the same time both Gally and Aris turned around to look at Thomas who was already entering the room. Seconds later Newt appeared too but with a little girl with brown hair holding his hand. Gally seems to be surprised that there's a little kid with them, but then his eyes fall on the green wings and he understands. Aris just stays in his place, not saying nor doing anything. His eyes, however, are wide like two plates. He stays that way while Thomas explains to Gally how Newt found the girl and after he finishes, he finally finds his voice again.

"Newt. Can I talk to you in private?" he asked as he stood up from his desk.

"...Sure."

Once they're out of hearing reach into the other room, Aris turns to Newt, looking him like he's a madman.

"What the hex were you thinking?!"

Newt seems genuinely confused. "What?"

"That's a fairy kid! That's the fairy on the list!"

"The fairy on the list?"

"Yeah, there's one. And apparently you found her. I have no idea how Cole managed to get her form Fairyland, but he did."

"Okay. Then how do we get her there?"

" _'We'_? Oh, no, no, no. I am not getting involved in this. Do you even know about fairies? They're dangerous!"

"Dangerous? Did you not see the little girl I just brought?"

"Yes, which is why I'm contacting the Council and telling them about the fairy."

"Will they help?"

"...Sure." he exits the room, Newt stays there for a moment and then he follows.

They go back to the room. The fairy was sitting over the chair where Aris had been sitting, and was looking at Gally's phone -which he had given to her- and was happily watching something in it. Maybe a video.

"So? What are we going to do in the meantime?" Newt asks.

"You mean who's going to take care of her?" Gally asks.

"You are." Aris says to Newt. "You're the one who found her; she trusts you."

Newt looks at the fairy, who is still looking at the phone.

"And you have magic. She will feel at ease with you near her."

"Really?"

Aris nods. It's Thomas' turn to talk, "Then why don't you take care of her."

"Don't be cruel to the kid." Gally says, ignoring Aris' glare.

"Because she already formed a bond with Newt. If you want her safe, then she has to be near you."

Thomas glances at the girl, "Can she talk?"

"I don't know. She hasn't said a word, but I think she does understand us. She understood what I told her when I found her." answers the blond witch.

"That's a start." the tall blond says. He glances at Aris for a moment and they look at each other before looking back at the others, "Just take her to your house and keep her there while we find a way to take her home."

"Alright." Newt goes to the fairy and kneels in front of her. The brunet girl looks away from the phone and over him. "Are you ready to go?"

The fairy nods and gets up from the chair. Newt gives her his hand and she takes it; they start walking when the fairy hands over the phone to Gally and keeps walking. Thomas looks at them and nods, he then follows Newt and they exit the room. Gally and Aris wait until they're out of the house.

Still not moving from his place, Gally asks "What did you told Newt?"

"The truth. That the fairy can be troublesome." he doesn't say anything else and goes back to what he was doing before he was interrupted.

 

* * *

 

After they left Gally and Aris' house, Thomas had to go to his house as Mary had asked him to. He told Newt he would go and help him with the fairy, which the blond thanked. After he finished with what Mary had asked from him -sure, who can't hold the sink with his bare hands while someone else fixes it?-, he went to his room to search for a new shirt. Thomas was searching another shirt to wear when his phone rang. He picked it up from his bed where he had thrown it and answers,

"Hello?"

_"Thomas! Where the hell have you been?"_

"Minho, right now I ca-

_"Oh no. You aren't going to say 'I can't talk right now', no. You left school I don't know at what time and you made me go in the bus alone and some weirdo sat beside me. And I think he brought a squirrel to school 'cus his backpack kept moving."_

"Sorry! Something happened and I had to leave."

_"Something as in 'I had to go because I accidentally set the school on fire' or as in 'something supernatural related'?"_

Thomas found a shirt and puts it on, "The last one." he puts his phone away as he puts the shirt, "Newt found a fairy."

_"What? Really?!"_

"Yeah, a little girl. In the woods. Now as Gally and Aris find a way to take her back to her homeland, me and Newt are going to watch over the kid."

_"Oh, so you're going to play house with Newt, huh?"_ he asks and Thomas can practically see the smirk.

"Shush it!"

_"Hey, that's not way to talk to the fun Uncle!"_

Thomas rolls his eyes, "Bye, Min."

He hangs up and puts his phone inside his pants. He takes a look of himself in the mirror and then leaves his room.

 

* * *

 

As Thomas went to his own house, Newt went back to his house only to find it empty. There was a note on the fridge from his mom that said that she had to work late and that grandma was with her bridge club. Great, he was alone. He didn't know how he would explain the fairy to his mom. He led the fairy to the kitchen and sat her on one stool.

"So, what would you like to eat?" he stops for a moment, "Wait. What do fairies eat? Is there something like that in any book?"

The fairy didn't say anything, she just continued to stare at Newt. Newt also stared at her, resting his arms over the counter in front of her.

"You know, you don't look dangerous to me."

The fairy smiled.

Newt smiled too and then someone rang his doorbell. He glanced at the door and back at the fairy.

"I'll be right back." he took his phone out and put on a video to watch.

As she stared at the phone, he went to the front door and looked down at the mountain ash line he had made. He opened the door only to find Gally standing there.

"Oh, hey." he moves aside to let him enter the house.

Gally enters the house, the door closing behind him as Newt accompanies him to the living room.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, no. Not at all. I, uh," he holds up a small jar filled with something that looked like colorful candies. "Here, I thought it would be of help. It's something that calms small creatures, including fairies."

Newt takes it and smiles at him, "Thanks."  he looks at the jar in his hands and then glances back at the fairy, who is still staring at the phone while swinging her legs. He looks back at the tall sandy blond, "Hey, Gally? Do you think that the Council will help her get safe back to her home?"

Gally frowns, "The Council? Why would you think that?"

"Aris said he would contact the Council so they could take her to Fairyland, her home."

"Aris? Talking to the Council? You do realize that they are the ones who punished him. And don't you know what happens to fairies once the Council takes the matter in their own hands?"

 

* * *

 

Aris came out of the bathroom to find Newt standing over the entrance of his room. He was startled for a moment but didn't show it. He acted nonchalantly; he walked towards his desk,

"Back so soon? Troubles with the fairy?"

"No, no. She's downstairs with Gally. He, uh, came to my house to drop something... And then he told me something."

"Really? What did he told you?"

"He told me that you don't have a way to communicate with the Council, only he does. And that if you called them, they wouldn't come and help the fairy go back home." he glances at the floor, "But you already knew that, right?"

They stay in silence for a couple of seconds before Aris sighs.

"You don't understand..." he starts but is cut off by Newt.

"I do! We need to help her!"

"No, what we need to do is to trap her in a jar and hand her over to the Council."

"But they will... Maybe we can--

"No, Newt. Haven't your grandma or your mom teach you about basic magical creatures?"

"She's scared! Look at her and tell me you would really think someone like her could do horrible things!" he says pointing at the door, obviously meaning the stairs, "Tell me!"

"That's what fairies do, Newt! They look all innocent and harmless but when you take your eyes off them they'll set you on fire! I've lived for centuries, I know their kind!"

"Yeah, well, maybe that's the problem."

Aris frowns, "Excuse me?"

"Maybe you've lived for too long and you've only met the bad ones. Or maybe you've met one personal and that's blurring your judgment."

"Screw you, little white witch!"

Before any of them can continue their argument, Gally comes upstairs in a flash, entering the room with a frown on his face,

" _Whoa, whoa!_ What's happening?"

Aris points at Newt as he takes a step forward. "Get him out of my face before I cast a spell on him!"

"Oh, yeah? How are you gonna do that with the cuff on?" snorts the blond witch as he too takes a step forward.

"Witch, don't try me!"

"Okay!" yells Gally as he steps in, "Enough! That's enough!"

"Whose side are you on?!" yells Aris.

"No one's! You both need to calm down."

"You suck! No wonder why they put that cuff on you!"

Aris tries to launch at him, but Gally stops him, holding him by the waist and hoisting him up.

"Let go! I'm going to show you what I can do with my cuff on!"

Gally turns to the blond witch, "Newt, you better go."

Newt doesn't think twice before he leaves, taking the fairy with him. Once he's sure the other witch is gone, Gally lets go of Aris by throwing him over his bed. The lighter brunet doesn't make an attempt to get up and run or yell at him. Gally leaves the room. Aris stays where he is even after the tall blond left. He stares at the ceiling as his hand goes down and touches his inner thigh and he curses.

 

* * *

 

The sun was going down as Newt went back to his house in a cab. The fairy had fallen asleep in the way back, so he carried her to the couch and let her sleep there. As he watched her sleep, he couldn't understand why someone would think she was dangerous? He was still mad at Aris. He had tried to fool him and make him give the fairy to the ones who weren't going to help her. He needed to do something to help her. But what? He was just a novice witch. He was brought out of his thoughts by someone knocking on the door.

_"It's Thomas!"_

He walks to the door and opens it, giving the brunet a smile before moving aside,

"Come in,"

He turns around, expecting the brunet to follow him, and walks to his living room until he realizes he didn't hear any steps behind him. He turns around and sees Thomas still outside, staring at the door. Newt frowns in confusion as in why the werewolf hadn't come in before something rings in his head.

"Oh, sorry."

He kneels down over the entrance to where the mountain ash is and breaks the line, allowing Thomas to enter.

"It's okay,"

They walk to the dining room, where Newt could still watch over the fairy, and they started talking.

"Hey, is everything okay? I can, uh, sense your distress."

"Sense?"

"...Smell."

"Oh, sorry." he puts a strand of hair behind his ear, "I just... Does she look dangerous to you?"

Thomas glances behind Newt at where the fairy was sleeping. She was clutching at the cushion were her head was resting, and her wings were slowly moving as she breathed.

"Not at all."

"Well, Aris doesn't seem to think that." he sighs, and crosses his arms over his chest. Something came to his mind and he kept thinking about it, but... should he do it? After thinking it through, he makes up his mind.

"Tommy, I need your help."

"Sure, anything."

"I need to hide the fairy from Aris."

 

* * *

 

At the mansion, after throwing Aris over his bed and leaving him alone, Gally went downstairs to finish his homework. Gally was over the living room, checking some homework when Aris appeared with a cup of coffee on hand.

"I brought coffee."

"Huh?" he raises his head to look at the cup of coffee, "Oh, thanks."

Aris puts the coffee on the table in front of Gally and stands beside the couch, watching the tall blond.

"You are mad at me." he's not asking but rather telling him.

"What gave it away?"

"The way you threw me into my bed in a not-so-sexy way."

Gally rolls his eyes. He grabs the coffee and takes a sip from it. He puts the cup down on the table and continues with the homework.

"I already contacted the Council." Aris said, breaking the silence.

The tall blond instantly stands up, "Wait, what? How?"

He pulls his sleeves up, revealing him to be cuff less. "I asked the neighbor to take my cuff off. She's a nice 90 year-old lady, you know. Then I made myself look like you and called them."

"Aris, that girl may be a fairy, but she hasn't harmed anyone."

"Yet." he says with venom in his voice. He shrugs, "Anyway, it's too late for you to do something about it. They called your superiors and will send two knights to come for the fairy."

"I..." he tries to say something but he doesn't know what it was. He starts feeling dizzy. "I, uh..." he blinks a few times, even shakes his head in an attempt to stay awake. Why did he suddenly felt... weak and... As if he were about to sleep?

He frowns. He looks down at his coffee and something clicks in his mind.

"Wha- whu..." he looks at Aris, "What did you... what did you do?"

"Deadly nightshade, commonly known as Belladonna. I was going to use Kanima venom, but I don't have much. Don't worry, you know it won't kill you."

"W-why?"

Aris rolls his eyes, "Am I the only one who understands the seriousness of this?"

Gally tumbles a little, so the lighter brunet catches him and lays him down on the couch. ".. _Y-you_..."

"Yeah, I know, I know. You will kick my ass once the effects wear off. But right now I need to do this." he exits the living room, leaving the unconscious Gally rest over the couch.

 

* * *

 

They had found another body. This one didn't have any injury like the first one, but the person who found him took his pulse and when he found none he called the police. Vince was sitting down in his office chair, checking missing persons report to find the victim but 'till now he couldn't find him. Alec was on the other side of the desk, also with a bunch of missing person reports. Vince glanced from the reports to him and recalled the whole day. He only left him alone to get them some coffee and that was all.

"Still nothing?"

"No, sir." he sighs, "And Wendell is still checking the body. He told me he would call me if something came up."

"Okay. Just remind me that after we finish this we go get some hamburgers or something. I'm starving!"

"Of course, sir!" and again with that smile. Dear god, his smile reached his eyes. This was it.

"Okay. Okay, this has to stop." Alec's smile falls, "Look, kid, I'm gonna be honest here 'cus I think you're a wonderful guy and all that, but I'm not interested. Not only I'm your superior, but I'm old enough to be your father. I think you should go out with girls your age or a guy for that matter, but..."

Alec seemed confused, "What?"

Vince sighed. So he had to do this after all. "I see the way you move around me, and the way you smile- fuck, your smile sometimes looks so blinding that I just..." he huffs.

He didn't wanted to hurt the kid, but he had to put his foot down and make this clear.

"Sir, with all due respect but... I'm not interested in you in that way."

Vince stood where he was, not knowing how to act on that. What?

"Oh. Oh... I-It's just that... You spent the whole day glued to me. And you prefer the night shift when no one wants it, and I usually have that shift, so..."

"I spent the whole day at your side because that's my job. And I take the shift at night because everyone else have a family to go to. There's no rush to go home for me..." he looks down for a moment, "No one's waiting there for me."

Vince looks up and almost feels guilty by the face the young man has. But of fucking course he had to confuse this guy's loyalty to something stupid like a highschool girl crush.

"I'm so sorry. I-I thought-

"No, it's okay. Everything's fine. Actually, it's a good thing you still think of yourself as someone who could attract someone younger." he said with a grin.

Vince grins too. _'This little shit. And here I thought I wounded his feelings.'_

"Okay. We're even."

Alec nodded and he exited the office. Vince chuckled after he left; he was right, Alec was a good kid.

 

* * *

 

It was now dark and Thomas was still at Newt's house. They were both over the kitchen when he smelled Aris' scent, so he went outside while Newt went to wake up the fairy. He got out of the house and walked towards Aris, who was running towards him, his heart beating fast.

"Thomas! Thomas! Something happened!"

Thomas stopped. "What?"

"Minho is in trouble! He called me because he couldn't reach you and then...!"

"WHAT? What happened?!"

"I can't explain right now, but Minho needs you! I need to go to Gally for help!"

"Okay! I'll meet you there!"

"Okay!"

Thomas left running to the other side, his mind now on his best friend and nothing else. Aris saw him leave and once he was out of sight he snorted.

"Werewolves. Not the brightest creatures."

He turns around and goes towards the house. Once standing over the entrance, he makes a move of his wrist and the door opens. He enters the house slowly.

"Newt?" he asked in Thomas' voice.

"Thomas?" Newt moved on the kitchen but he stopped once he saw Aris. "Where's Thomas?"

"He's not available at the moment. Try a little later."

Newt glanced at his free hand, the cuff no longer there. Newt's eyes fell to where the fairy was sitting on the couch, having just woken up, and back at Aris, only to find that Aris was doing the same. They stared at each other without moving and then they both launched at the fairy, with Newt holding her first and Aris grabbing at him. Suddenly, they found themselves at the parking lot of the school.

Aris had used a Teleportation Spell.

They let go of the other as they got dizzy because of the sudden change. It usually happened when you didn't use that spell so often. Once they were okay and familiarized with their surrounding, they remembered why they were there. Before Newt could do a move to run away, Aris grabbed him and again they found themselves at another place.

They landed on their feet and dizzy again. This time Newt let the fairy stand on her own feet, but he was still clutching her hand close to him. Newt looked around and he knew where they were.

"Why are we in your room?" he asked the lighter brunet witch.

"I don't know. It was the first thing I thought of. The second one was the woods but I would've lost you in there." he looks down at the fairy again. "Just hand her over, Newt. We both know that I'm much better than you with the cuff off, so just-

"No! Why are you like this? Weren't you ever wrong about something that you regret?"

Aris doesn't say anything. His eyes just move from Newt to the fairy, and back at Newt. They hear some noise coming from downstairs and they both look at each other before Newt grabs the fairy and hides behind the wood screen over the corner of Aris' room. The lighter brunet witch stays in his place and soon Gally enters the room. Shit.

But then two other people enter the room behind him. They were two guys -who looked like they were near Gally's range of age- dressed literally like knights. Dressed in freaking shining armors.

The metallic cuirass covering their torsos, metal pauldrons showing the black shirt -it seemed like they were wearing a black long sleeved shirt- underneath them, and vambraces that reached to the wrists. A big brown belt -for the swords, maybe- was on their hips, clutched to the long dark pants; poleyns covering their knees that seemed to be strapped to the greaves and sabatons.

It was like looking at some Arthurian movie.

Aris didn't seem to be shocked by them. "Oh, I forgot how good you looked in your armor~ Wanna try it on for me?"

"Not now."

"Are you still mad at me because of the coffee incident?"

"I'll get back for that later. But first, I need to find the fairy and bring her to the Council."

Newt feels his blood turn into ice. He knows that Gally is only going along this because he can't apparently refute an order from the Council.

Aris throws a quick glance -which Gally doesn't seem to notice- at the screen and back at him, "Okay. And how can I help the Council?"

"We went to Newt's house but he's not there. Maybe he knows we're going for him and he escaped. We can't find Thomas either."

Aris crosses his arms over his chest, "And why were you here?"

"Because we didn't search the house. The only place missing was your room, then we'll go to the woods."

Newt hugs the fairy harder and she hugs back. Shit. If he could just get an opening, a chance to escape!

"I'll- I'll save you the trouble." the witch says.

"Trust me, if I could find him, I would."

Aris nods, like if he's making a decision. "Newt's hiding behind the screen." he says nodding at the wooden screen. Newt's eyes widen as the fairy looks at him, "I'm sure your superiors and the Council would love to know how you wasted your time by rifling through my things when there was a fairy in the loose." he nods at the screen again, "Go on."

Newt bites his lips, sure that the tall blond would take the screen away and find him and the fairy hiding behind it, and then he would take her to the Council, but then Gally speaks again,

"So you can have the satisfaction of making me look a fool?" he snorts, "No thanks. I'll go check in the woods, so if you see something call me." and with that he turned around and left. The two knights also left with him. Aris stood there until the sound of the main door closing was heard.

Newt comes out of his hiding, holding the fairy close to him. He looks at the brunet witch with astonishment. "You... I-I... thanks."

"I didn't do it for you. I did it for her." he said with a nod at the fairy. "Come on, I know a way to get her to Fairyland safe." he starts grabbing some things from his bookshelves, and when he turns around he finds that Newt didn't move, watching him carefully. "Jesus, just- Trust me, okay?!"

 

* * *

 

They reappeared in the empty parking lot of the school. Looking around to make sure there wasn't anyone near or around, they went to move farther away from school, getting as far as they could from the woods. They didn't want to find Gally and the knights.

"Okay. Where do we need to go?" the blond asks as they start walking.

"Somewhere where no one can see us. There is going to be a bright light and I don't want anyone to be curious and catch us." he looks at some old shack over a couple of meters away from the school. Maybe where they keep all the gardening things. "Over there."

"Wait."

The brunet witch stops.

"Why are you helping now when five minutes ago you went directly to my house to get her?"

Aris sighs and turns around. He looks around, making sure there was no one, and grabs Newt's wrist and pulls him over the shadows so they can't be seen.

"You were right. About that thing of me meeting one personally and that blurring my judgment, but I do have my reasons." he made a pause, took some air and then continued, "I once tried to help a fairy escape from someone who was looking for her. Everyone was saying how fairies were dangerous and evil but I didn't want to believe them. I mean, look at them. How can they tell you they are dangerous, right?"

He pulls down at the left side of his leggings until he's showing his thigh at Newt.

"This is what happened the last time I helped a fairy."

And Newt stared at it. There, over his inner thigh was a long scar with a purplish color. But it didn't look like the bruise purplish color. It looked like... made by magic?

Aris covers himself again and Newt looks up at his eyes.

"Why didn't you heal it with magic?"

Aris shakes his head, "I can't. Just a fairy can heal what a fairy did."

They stay in silence that seems to prolong.

"...I'm sorry."

"No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted like a Nazi." he looks at the fairy, "I'm sorry to you too."

The fairy looks over at Newt and then back at Aris; then she smiles. Apology accepted.

"Come on, we need to be fast. In a couple of minutes Gally will realize I still don't have my cuff on and will come back to the house only to find it empty."

They went to the shack and using magic they opened it. It was bigger in the inside than the outside. They left the doors open and entered; they walked to the nearest wall and Aris kneeled in front of it, taking his satchel off and taking some stuff out of it. Newt guarded the entrance as Aris prepared the spell or whatever he was doing. The fairy tugged at Newt's hand, and he looked down. He offered her a smile and patted her head. He turned to where Aris was and found the witch with his hand was held above a medium jar with purple and pink colored liquid. He had his eyes closed and then the jar started shaking. A bright light appears and it lightens all the shack that Newt had to cover his eyes; the fairy did the same. A purplish portal appears over the wall. Aris stands up as Newt approaches him.

"It's a kind of portal. It's linked to Fairyland; this way she can go home, and the elder fairies can help her from there."

Newt smiles but then a sword is thrown at them and sticks in the wall, just above their heads and the portal. They turn their heads only to find the two knights but no Gally on sight.

"Crap." Aris says.

The knights stand in position, ready to brandish their swords and attack them. Suddenly, someone appears from behind them and throws one of the knights to the ground. The other takes his sword out and follows the glowing eyes in the dark. Thomas avoids the sword going for his side and soon throws the other knight on the ground, but he quickly tumbles Thomas to the ground too with his legs. The brunet werewolf huffs but soon recovers enough to get on top of the knight. He then raises his hand made fist now and brings it down to hit the knight on the head, knocking him out. He lets out a huff before falling unconcious.

Then the other knight gets up from the ground, ready to raise his sword at Thomas, but before he can do anything, Gally appears behind him and hits him on the back of the head with the pommel of his sword, knocking him unconscious.

Gally looks up from the knight on the ground to the two witches. "Care to tell me why I had to attack one of my own?"

Thomas stands from the ground and then Minho comes in running, standing to his side. Apparently Thomas had indeed gone to his friend's house and brought him along.

"Is that the fairy?" Minho asks pointing at the little girl.

"It's a _'she'_." answers Aris.

Crossing his arms over his chest and holding his sword with one hand, Gally takes a step forward.

"So what? We're letting her go?"

Aris nods, "We're letting her go."

They stare at each other and Gally nods back, like agreeing with him. He didn0t wanted to capture her after all.

Getting closer to the portal, Newt kneels in front of the fairy, "Okay, little girl. It's time for you to go home. I'm sure they are worried about you gone."

The little girl hugged Newt and the blond hugged her back. She then stepped away and turned to Aris. She tugs at his leg, making him kneel at her level. She surprises not only him but everyone else by hugging him too. His hands stay on the air but they soon go to her back, patting it lightly.

The fairy separates for a moment and with the witch still kneeled in front of her, she puts her tiny hand over his thigh and after a couple of seconds the place where her hand is starts shining. Aris' eyes widen as he sees her magic acting. She removes her hand and the glowing stops. Still having Aris' attention, the fairy smiles, opens her mouth and-

"Thank you."

At that everyone's mouth falls open. She spoke. Her first words in the whole day and they were directed to Aris. Newt smiles softly over Aris and the fairy. The fairy then turns to the rest of them, nods at them as a thanks and then walks to the still open portal. Aris stands up from the ground and they all watch as the fairy crosses the portal and then disappears. The portal closes after that.

Everything is quiet again. Minho lets out a sigh, and then a whistle.

"That's what I call a freaky friday."

"Today's Wednesday." retorts Gally.

The two witches walk back to the rest of the gang. Newt smiles at Thomas, while Aris plays with his finger in front of Gally, obviously waiting to be yelled. The two witches glanced at each other, and it's the blond one who breaks the silence,

"So... Are we in trouble with the Council?" he asks Gally.

"I don't think so." he looks back at the still unconscious knights, "They didn't saw who attacked them. Besides, if they could be defeated by a werewolf in learning and the pommel of my sword, then they are not ready to get out of the academy yet."

"Always so harsh on everyone." Aris says.

Thomas looks around at the shack, "Maybe we should get out before someone sees us."

"Yeah, we don't need to explain six teenagers and two unconscious knights alone in a dark shack." Aris says.

"Six- hey, wait a minute." Thomas looks around at them and frowns, "Where's Teresa?"

Minho is the one who answers, "She's at her home. She said she needed to study for some test their teacher is going to make on Friday."

"Well, I don't know you guys but I'm tired~" the lighter brunet witch says, stretching his arms above his head.

Newt brings a hand to his neck, massaging it. "Yeah, me too."

"Well, we might as well get out now."

And with that, Thomas helps Gally carry the unconscious knights. Minho and Newt exit the shack too, leaving Aris behind. He was staring at the wall where the portal had been minutes ago.

"You coming?" he hears Gally's voice.

"Yeah, just a moment."

Gally exits the shack and soon he's alone. He lowers half his leggings and looks at the clean and fair skin on his thigh. No purple scar anymore. He barely touches with the tip of his fingers when a voice behind him startles him.

"You alright?"

He quickly turns around to see Gally supporting the knight on his shoulders. Aris plays it cool,

"If you wanted to see me naked you could've just ask." he says as he walks towards him, passing beside.

"No thanks,"

He watches Aris walk away, going to where the rest of the gang was. The knight starts waking up again but Gally knocks him again. This had been a busy day.

 

* * *

 

Vince parked his car outside the hospital and went inside the building. He went directly to the morgue and entered the room, seeing Alec already there wearing scrubs, rubber gloves and was standing beside a operating table with what appeared to be a body underneath the sheet. Vince approaches him,

"Hey, the coroner told me you ask for me; that you had something to show me. Found something?"

"That's the thing. I didn't found anything."

Vince looks at him and frowns, "What do you mean?"

Alec hovers a hand over the still covered body, "When I opened this guy to check if everything was okay and in its place..." he chuckles, "They weren't. His kidneys, liver, they all are missing. If it would have been like the first body that only had one kidney missing, I wouldn't be complaining, but this?" he lets out a sigh, "This is some other level."

"Maybe it could be human organ trafficking to sell in the black market."

Alec grins and holds his finger, "That's what I thought at first. But here's the strange part. They don't have any opening wound. Nor scar or anything that indicates that their organs were surgically removed."

"What the fuck?"

He looks back at the body and both of them stare at it, confusion and a little bit of worry showing on their faces. What does this mean?

Over Teresa's house at her room, the raven girl had fallen asleep in a sitting position on her bed, her head slightly to the left. She was resting peacefully, eyes closed, mouth slightly ajar; she made a little head move, her eyebrows frowning for a second before going back to normal. Then suddenly she jerks and begins screaming at the top of her lungs, eyes still closed as if she were still asleep, and flailing around in her bed, kicking her books, notebooks and blanket off her bed and onto the ground as she continued screaming.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ow, wow. What was that at the end? *gasps*
> 
> -Creatures found: 1 - Fairy.  
> -Ingredients/other stuff: Deadly Nightshade or Belladona. Rowan berries.
> 
> -Number of jars: 15.  
> -Jars obtained 'till now: 12.  
> *Nymphs - 3.  
> *Mountain ash - 1.  
> *Goblin eyes - 1.  
> *Switch - 1.  
> *Mermaid hair - 1.  
> *Moss and fungus - 1.  
> *Witch's spirit - 1.  
> *Fairy - 1.  
> *Deadly Nightshade or Belladona - 1.  
> *Rowan berries - 1.


	10. Into the Deep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, a few things first: the flesh eater looks like the Licker from Resident Evil (just look for some photos of it). The seekers aren't neither good or bad, they're neutral -they're Switzerland. With this chapter, the supernatural list is finally complete. Umm, I think that's it.
> 
> This chapter is dedicated to runeswolves! Go check her Newtmas story "Cursed"! It's so good!~ And also her Christmasy one ;)

Teresa tries not to let the residual panic take over her as she's sitting over her bed, rubbing her eyes and face after waking up screaming. But why did she wake up screaming? Was she having a nightmare? She doesn't remember and that gets her mad. She pinches the bridge of her nose and falls back to the bed, where she reaches for the bottle of ibuprofen over her nightstand but finds it empty. Sighing, she rises from bed, putting on her sneakers.

"Mom, I'm going to the store." she calls out as she grabs her coat, putting it on, "Mom, are you even here?" she flips her hair back from under her coat; nothing is heard from across the hall and she sighs again. "Of course not. You would have heard me scream like a lunatic." she stops by her open window and stares out at the moon, which is illuminating her face. What a strange word to use considering all that has happened with her friends. She stays there like in a trance for a couple of seconds and then leaves her room.

Minutes later, Teresa parks her mom's other car and takes her phone out, texting to tell her she was out as she exits the car, so it takes her a moment to realize that she has not, as she expected, driven to the store. Instead, she is at the public pool near the Beacon Hills Preserve. She frowns, looking around the place and continues walking forward. Getting closer to the pool, she sees a human shape floating in the water and a shiver goes down her spine. She stops right there and covers her mouth, saying 'oh my god'. Should she leave or go check? Should she call the cops or...?

Whispering to herself _"please don't be dead, please don't be dead"_ she approaches the pool, getting a chance to see closer to the figure floating. It was facing down in the pool, so she kneels over the edge and with trembling hands she turns it around. Much to her surprise, it turns out to be a CPR dummy used in resuscitation classes. Resting her hands on the cold and wet ground, she thanks whoever is up there that this wasn't what she thought.

"Are you kidding me?" she breathes out, her heart racing.

As she breathes a sigh of relief and plays with her hands for a moment, she looks down at her hands and realizes that her hands are bloody. Heart speeding up and breathing heavily, she follows the pooling blood on the concrete and looks up to find a man's body propped in the lifeguard stand; he had his throat, arms and from the look of it his stomach slashed and was drenched in blood, his eyes still open. Teresa stares at it in horror and she screams in fear.

 

* * *

 

Half hour later the police had cordoned off the area of the public pool. People had already heard what happened and saw the sirens, so they obviously came to see what was it about this time. Deputies tried to maintain order, making sure no one crossed the line. The sheriff and Vince were looking around the whole place. Vince let out a sigh. _'Another one. Another body.'_ Turning to the left, he saw the young forensic scientist kneeling beside the pool, hands covered in blood -he must already have checked the body- and... picking up the CPR dummy and sitting it on the ground as if he were a kid playing with his toys. As the sheriff spoke to another deputy, Vince decided to approach the scene first.

"There were no witnesses, just like in the first two scenes." Vince said as he approached the other.

"That's weird. Since this is the third time, shouldn't there at least be a witness? Someone who was walking around? Teenagers playing?" Alec turns to look at the dummy, "And what about you, Mr. Dummy? Did you saw anything tonight?"

The sheriff had apparently heard and saw him as he said while he approached "I swear to Christ, Montgomery, after this case, I'm submitting your ass to psychiatric evaluation."

Alec smiled sheepishly -and kind of embarrassed, Vince noticed- and dropped the dummy as he stood up.

"So? What do we have here?"

"Male. Middle 20's. Throat and stomach slashed open with a sharp object. Arms slashed with a curved object. I'll know more after the autopsy." Alec says looking at the two older males.

The sheriff nods at the blood covering half the ground. "He does look bad. Too much blood."

"Tell me he died quickly." Vince said.

Alec grimaces, "No such luck. Liver temp indicates he bled out slowly. I can tell TOD's only about an hour ago."

At the street where people were standing and gossiping about the apparent murder, Gally's pickup truck appeared and parked, and Thomas, Minho and the rest came out of the vehicle. Thomas looked around, trying to find the raven girl; he finally saw her over the ambulance. He pointed at her and the guys followed him. Over the ambulance, Teresa was sitting down with a blanket over her shoulders, hands still trembling a little and she was looking at the nothing when the guys came to her side.

_"Teresa!"_

She looked up and saw Thomas.

"Teresa! Are you okay?"

"I-I don't know... I don't know how I-" she swallows, closing her eyes. "I don't know how I ended up here."

"But are you okay?" asked Newt. She nods.

"I was driving to the drug store and when I came out of the car, I-I was here. And then I saw him...."

Thomas turned around to look at the scene over the pool. Vince was there, talking to Alec, who was taking his gloves off. Teresa continued talking, but he wasn't really listening to her. He was trying to hear the two men's conversation, so he took a step away from his friends.

Newt saw him looking at the nothing -trying to act as if he weren't listening-, so he approaches him, standing by his side, "What do you hear?"

"Alec says that the guy might have died an hour ago. That means he'd died minutes before Teresa came. She could've have been in danger."

"But she wasn't. She's fine."

"But what if..."

"Tommy, it's alright. We'll figure it out in the morning. Right now we have to take Teresa back to her home."

While the two of them were talking, Minho turns to Teresa and softly nudges her when he sees her upset.

"You sure you're okay?"

Teresa looks at the ground, "I feel really stupid."

"How come?"

"I don't know... 'Cause I freaked out like a total girl?"

Minho offers her a smile, "You are a girl."

"I freaked out like a girly girl, and I'm not a girly girl."

"I would've freaked out like a girly girl," he leans forward and whispers "And I'm not even a girl."

Teresa manages to smile at that. Thomas and Newt approach them back again. The brunet stands beside Teresa and puts a hand over her shoulder,

"Come on, let's take you home."

Teresa nods and takes off the blanket around her shoulders, leaving it inside the ambulance. As a paramedic approached them and they started talking, asking if they could take her home now, a figure was lurking on the shadows, watching them. It took its tongue out and moves it around the air.

 

* * *

 

At the morning of the next day, Teresa is over her room getting ready for school. She has everything -even her backpack ready- except for her shoes. She goes to grab her black shoes when she picks one up and notices the traces of blood on the side and on the shoe sole. She lets go of it almost instantly, and it falls with a 'thud' on the floor. She sighs and shakes her head.

There's a knock on her door and then the door opens to reveal her mother standing on the entrance, leaning against the frame.

Emily -her mom- smiles at her, "Hey, you."

"Hey, I'm almost ready. I just need to put on my shoes."

Emily nods and stays where she is, looking as her daughter grabs her navy Converse and sits on the edge of the bed, ready to put them on. The raven older woman speaks, "You know... If you're not feeling... good today, you know, because of last night... You can always stay home for today. Nobody would blame you."

Teresa finishes with her shoes and looks up at the mom, "What for? It's not like I found the murderer or something, I just found the body." she stands up, "I'm totally fine."

Emily stays there staring at her daughter when then she lets out a sigh. But of course she would say that. Act tough as if she hadn't had found a bloodied body in the middle of the night. She approaches her daughter and once standing in front of her, she cups her face; she kisses her forehead tenderly and then proceeds to hug her.

"I love you very much, dear."

Teresa smiles into the hug and hugs back, "I love you more."

"I love you most."

 

* * *

 

Arriving at school, Teresa got out of her mom's car and went to the building as her car drove away. As she made her way to the entrance, she thought she saw a couple of guys staring at her, and murmuring behind her. She shook it off and walked towards her locker. Once standing in front of it, she stood there without opening it and taking out her stuff.

_'I know I told my mom I was okay, and I am, but... It was such a horrible experience. And to know that the guy had been alive just a couple of minutes before I arrived? And why the hell did I ended up there? My mom's worried about me, but if she only knew all the things that had happened in the past weeks...'_

She was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't notice someone approaching her from behind; a hand fell over her shoulder, startling her for a moment before she saw who it was.

Thomas removes his hand, "Hey. How are you?"

"Well, my mom had to drive here because she wanted to make sure I was okay. I'm pretty sure a couple of guys from school know about last night, and I couldn't get too much sleep. A normal Thursday."

She brings a hand to ruffle her hair and Thomas catches the glimpse of something shining -a bracelet. He follows her hand towards her side and that's when he sees the golden coins in her bracelet ([x](http://thebaidunshop.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/j/w/jw_rm_1030w_2_.jpg)), "Hey, nice bracelet."

Teresa smiles, her eyes going to the golden coins, "Thanks. It was a present from my uncle. They're called drachmas."

"Nice,"

_"Hey, guys!"_ they turn and see Minho approaching them, running towards them lockers. "Good news! Mr. McDonald, the Chemistry teacher? They say he didn't came, and they don't have someone to cover for him so we'll have free class!"

"Why are you so happy? It's just a class." Teresa asks.

"Because we had a test and I didn't study!" he raises his arms high over his head. _"THANK YOU, JESUS!"_

The bell rings.

"Well, I'll see you at free period! Bye!" with that he runs away, turning over the corner and disappearing.

Thomas and Teresa chuckle. "Come on, we don't wanna be late."

Teresa opens her locker and takes her books out, closing the locker and then turns to Thomas. They both then walk to their class, ignoring that outside the school, hiding on the dark over the bushes was the same creature from last night.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile at the sheriff's station, Vince was talking to some deputy on their desk about another case when he hears Alec yelling at him to have his attention and turns his head to see him running towards him.

_"Vince! Vince! Not you! You're not Vince!"_ he yells at one person who turned their head to him. He soon was standing at Vince side and they walked towards his office, "Hey, sorry. You told me to see if the three victims showed something out of the normal or something like that and I found something. They had something in common: they all had a missing organ."

"Except the third victim; he only had his throat slashed and all his organs were intact."

"Yeah, which makes me think... Maybe he was interrupted."

Vince frowns, stopping in front of his office, "What do you mean?"

"Maybe the killer was gonna cut off some organ but someone appeared and he had to flee the scene."

"But if someone interrupted him then why nobody said anything? The guy was still alive."

"The only person who was there at that time was Teresa Wilde. But she says she didn't saw anything and that the guy was dead when she arrived. I believe her."

"Yeah, me too. That's the problem."

"Because it'd be a bad judgment 'cus you know her?"

"Because if she's telling the truth, then we don't have anything. This murder adds to the list of unsolved murders and we have already two."

"Now what do we do?"

"Pray that it stops at three." in that very instant his phone rings. He holds a finger at Alec for him to wait until he's finished with the call. "Vince. What is it, Morales?" he waits as he's told on the other side of the line of the situation. His eyebrows furrow, "What?" the brunet man turns to him as he watches his expressions. "Shit."

Vince hangs up and turns to look at Alec and the brunet scientist knew what that meant.

"No way..."

 

* * *

 

At the mansion, Gally was standing over the doorframe of Aris' room watching Aris, who was sitting on his desk with the supernatural list and several other pages on the desk, still trying to decipher the last part. They had found two of the three jars they were missing, which contained magical ingredients; nothing dangerous. But there was still one missing and they weren't sure if it used to have ingredients like the last two or a creature.

"You said you would go to the house to check something of the list only and then go back to school."

"Yeah, well, I lied."

"Shocker."

Aris puts the paper down, "We have fourteen jars, Gally. Fourteen! Which mean that there's still one jar, one creature missing. You know how frustrating is that there's only one thing left on the list so this can end?!"

Gally takes a few steps forward so that he's now standing beside the desk, watching over it at the list and the paper sheets that Aris had used to translate.

"If you want to go back to school, go ahead. I'll stay here until I had translated this shit!

"Sheet." corrects the other.

"I know what I said."

Gally rolls his eyes; he glances at the pages and then looks another way. Something catches his attention and turns back to look at the pages,

"I know what language this is."

Aris blinks, "What?"

"This language. It's Romani."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. My grandma was of Romani descent, and she taught me how to read and write in Romani."

"Now who doesn't have a social life?" Aris said with a smirk, remembering what Gally had told him a few weeks ago.

Gally huffs but ignores him, taking the list from the witch's grasp. He moves Aris from the chair and he sits instead, staring at the list, "I'll try to decipher it, okay? But I can't do it with you whining around me."

"Fine."

Gally is actually surprised that worked.  He thought that the witch would complain or something, but he was actually turning to leave.

Suddenly, Aris turns back to him and cupping his face with his hands, brings it forward and kisses him in the lips. It's only for two seconds before he separates and let go of Gally, who stares at him in a mix of confused, dazed and embarrassed. He turns to leave but at the dirty blond's confusion, he flashes him a smile and says,

"I always fulfill my deals."

And then leaves. Gally was going to ask what he meant with that until he remembered:

 

_"Listen to me: If you can decipher the list, or at least one part of it, I will kiss you. On the mouth."_

 

Gally groans and goes to wash up his mouth before deciphering the list.

 

* * *

 

Over the park, there is a well-shaded playground that kids can explore on their own as well as a sandbox and picnic area. But right now the same park had been cordoned by the police when a body in the sandbox had been discovered by a woman walking her dog. Vince and Alec get out of the patrol and walk right to the scene. The sheriff was investigating another case, so this one was just them.

"Another body?" he huffs, "Well, someone wants me to have something to keep my day busy. Let's hope it be the last one we found."

Vince approached the deputy who arrived first at the scene while Alec went to check the body. The other man shook his hand as he explained the situation.

"The woman over there-" he points at a tall blonde woman with a golden retriever sitting over the ambulance and talking to another deputy, "found the unidentified man around an hour ago while she was walking her dog. She said she always comes around this time of the day at the same part of the park to walk the dog, and today her dog pulled her at the sandbox, where she found the body."

"No witnesses?"

"No, sir."

"Alright. Thank you, deputy."

The deputy nods and he walks to another part of the park. Vince sighs. Another body. Now it was for sure; they would have to call those guys. Ugh. He turned to the right and saw Alec kneeling in front of the sandbox, gloves on, and inspecting the body. He approached the sandbox and saw the victim: the man had an ugly big cut over his stomach, blood staining his white buttoned shirt and the sand underneath the body. He had his eyes closed and a trail of blood coming out of his mouth.

"Please tell me there exists a disease that makes a horrible cut over your torso and that I can label this as natural death."

Alec offers him a lopsided smile and looks back at the body. "Man in his forties; he has a deep wound over his belly made by an unidentified object. His stomach and some more internal organs gushed out of the slit."

"Do you think they are related to the other murders?"

"I wouldn't doubt it." he looks at the body again and this time he frowns, as if he had just realized something. Maybe he did. He tilts his head to the left, "Wait. Isn't he the Chemistry teacher at Beacon Hills highschool? He was reported missing this morning by his housekeeper."

"Well, he's not missing anymore." he turns around to the other deputies and claps to have their attention. "Okay. I need you two to secure the area, I don't want anyone stepping on evidence. I need you to call the M.E. and..."

As Vince finished giving instructions to the personnel, Alec was still crouched over the dead body when he saw something over the other side of the sandbox and he moved to get closer. There was a little bump in the sand, as if something were underneath it, buried. He brings a hand to the bump and brushes the sand off. He can see something underneath and frowns. He keeps brushing the sand until there's no more and he can see it clearly; Alec pales and retracts his hand.

"Oh my god."

Vince sees him shudder and frowns, "What? What is it?"

"Whoever or whatever attacked this man it took his bowels with it. But not all of it."

He and Vince look down and there over the sand was half of the man's bowel completely opened in the air, covered in blood and sand.

 

* * *

 

During lunch time, Thomas and the gang -except Gally and Aris- were walking towards the cafeteria. Aris shared class with Newt and told him that he and Gally were going to g back to the mansion to check something and that they were going to come back.

"I don't think they're coming back." Teresa says.

"Dibs on their puddings!" Minho yells excited.

"That's not fair! They're two!"

"So?"

"I want one!"

They laughed and went to get in the line to get the puddings. Newt and Thomas stayed in the entrance of the cafeteria and watch them form in line.

Thomas turns to the blond, "You don't think something happened to them, right?"

"No. Aris sent me a text; he said that Gally might know how to decipher the last part of the list so they're going to stay there until he does so. They'll call us when they have something."

Thomas nods. He looks around over the cafeteria and at the students there, sitting and eating, talking to each other. Living normal lives. Like the one he had before being a werewolf, and knowing about magic and supernatural creatures.

"Thomas?" the brunet turns to Newt, "You spaced out. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just... I was thinking about how my life used to be before all this."

"And how was it?"

"Boring. I only knew Minho. There weren't magical creatures involved," he looks at the blond, " _You_ weren't there."

Newt stares at him and then smiles. Their little moment is interrupted when Minho and Teresa run back to them, both holding a pudding on each hand.

"I told you, it's better to eat it cold, not warm like it is now."

Teresa shrugs, "Whatever. I'll eat one now and the other at home."

" _'Whatever'_? Seriously, woman. Aren't you classy like me?" he looks at the pudding on his right arm, "Oh, look, it's dripping." he holds his arm up and close to his face, and tries to lick the trail of pudding from his arm.

Teresa stares at him and then laughs; the other two laugh too at Minho's antics. Thomas shakes his head at his best friend and then... he raises his head when he gets a familiar scent. He turns his head to the other side where the smell is coming off, and frowns.

_'This smell... This smell is...'_

"It's _the_ smell."

"Thomas?"

Thomas whiplashes his head back to look at them that it's a miracle his neck didn't broke. "It's _the_ smell! Remember?! The- the horrible smell? Blood and that?"

"Cole's house?" Minho asks.

"Yes! It's the same. I-I know, I'm sure now." he looks around, "But it's not exactly here. It's... somewhere near the school."

"Whatever it is," Minho puts a hand over his shoulder, "You lead the way, we'll follow you."

"You sure?"

"If it's a creature from the list, we should go and investigate, don't you think? Just let me put the pudding in my locker and we're ready."

Thomas turns to the Teresa and Newt and they both nod at him. He nods back and it's settled them.

They managed to get out of school during lunch time. Not that anyone was paying attention while eating. They were walking along the sidewalk, the school no longer visible behind them. Thomas keeps getting the smell of blood, and it's both great and disconcerting. He stops for a moment to think about it. Was it a good idea to make his friends come along with him in the search for something with the smell of blood and something horrible? What if something happened and they got hurt because of him?

"Which way?" Newt asks, bringing back out of his thoughts.

Thomas looks around while sniffing the air, "This way." he says as he walks forward.

Behind Thomas and Newt with a couple of steps separating them, Minho leans to Teresa and whispers, "It's like following my dog Judge when I take him out for a walk."

_"I heard that!"_ yells Thomas from the front, not even turning his head towards them.

"Yeah. Judge would've also heard that." both ravens chuckle at that.

They continued walking, following Thomas and his werewolf senses.  Not so sure what they would find at the end of the trail.

 

* * *

 

Back at the mansion, both Gally and Aris were standing beside the desk where the tall blond had just finished with the list. They were both staring at the list and the papers- which Gally used to translate the list-; Aris doesn't move as he licks his lips nervously,

"Are you sure that's what it says?" he asks.

"Completely." he looks at the lighter brunet, "Why? What does it mean?"

Aris straightens, looking at the front, "Call Thomas and the others." he turns to look at Gally with fear in his eyes, "Call them now!"

 

* * *

 

Thomas, Minho, Newt and Teresa continued walking, and suddenly they were in the woods, surrounded by trees and insects, and other several scents. But Thomas could still tell the blood from the mud and the green leaves. As they continue, Teresa doesn't look where she's going; she trips with a broken log and falls down, rolling a little between some bushes before hitting the ground. The guys run down towards her in an instant, all of them kneeling beside her.

"Are you alright?" Newt asks as he helps her sit.

"Yeah, sorry."

They don't move from their positions. Minho then notices the red stain on her jeans, right over her knee.

"Are you hurt?" he asks, nodding at the blood over her jeans.

Teresa looks at it confused and touches it, her fingertips staining red but her jeans weren't tore or anything. "No, I... This isn't my blood."

"Then where did it come from?"

Thomas looks up at the bush Teresa had gone through in her fall and notices red on the leaves. It was stained with blood. Before he could even think about it, his phone starts ringing. He takes it out of his jeans and answers, and he doesn't even get a chance to ask who it was before Aris' voice comes from the speaker.

_"Thomas! Hear me out! We know what that creature is! You need to get the hell away from it!"_

"Why? What is it?"

_"In Romani its name means 'flesh eater'. It's a creature from the Underworld and you don't wanna get in its path. It can devour practically anything, but it prefers organs."_

Minho frowns, "Organs?"

_"It will take your intestines out without even making an opening to remove them, you moron."_ sounded Gally's voice.

Thomas takes a moment to think about it and now everything makes sense. "That's what happened to the victims." he says in a whisper.

_"What?"_

"The murder victims. The case Vince is working on right now. They all have missing organs."

"That's disgusting." Minho says.

Thomas feels a tug on his shirt, coming from Teresa.

"Thomas..." she says in a whisper.

The brunet werewolf turns to look at Teresa, and then to where her eyes are glued. At the distance -not too close for them to be in danger but enough for them to see it clearly- was a creature like none of them had ever seen before: First, it didn't seemed to have eyes, but it didn't seem to be an inconvenient for it. It also lacked skin, instead showing muscular tissue, which made it look creepier. It was all on fours, talons against the earthy surface, and it was staring right at their direction. Right at them. Thomas felt his blood run cold and especially since that's where the smell of blood came from. From that creature. The flesh eater.

"I gotta go." he said on the phone.

_"Thomas, get away from there. Now-"_ Thomas cuts the call, eyes still on the creature, neither of them making a move.

"Thomas, what do we do?" Newt asks.

Thomas doesn't know. He _really_ doesn't know. The creature wasn't moving, it was just staring at them; almost as if waiting for them to make the first move. Maybe they could stay still and it would get bored and leave? Like with a dog? Not even a minute flew before the creature opens its mouth, showing its pointy teeth and its elongated tongue lashing out.

Minho is the first to talk, "I have two words: _RUN!!!_ "

They all get up on their feet at the same time the flesh eater lets out a screeching sound and runs towards them. They run as fast as they can, not bothering to look back. It was obvious that they were still being chased. Thomas knew that he could easily run faster than everyone else now being a werewolf, but nothing in the world could make him run away and leave his friends alone. He took a quick glance behind and saw the creature still running, talons hitting the ground and breaking rocks and wood in its way. They somehow manage to get out of the woods and luckily for them they see Gally's pickup truck on the sidewalk. Gally has his head out of the window,

"Get in the car! _NOW!_ "

They don't have to be told twice; they get in the back part and Gally drives away just as the flesh eater comes out of the woods. Aris is in the co-pilot seat; he turns around to look at the gang.

"Is everyone still in one piece?"

Minho has a hand over his chest, "I think I lost my left lung somewhere over there."

"Good."

"What are we going to with that ugly as shit thing?" the Asian male asks once he gets some air.

"There's nothing we can do. We have to call the seekers." Gally says without taking his eyes from the road.

"What are _'seekers'_?" Teresa asks.

"They are keepers of the supernatural creatures from the Underworld. That thing came from the Underworld; we can't just trap it in a jar and pray it doesn't get free again. We need to send it back to where it belongs."

"Besides it's too dangerous for us to do it." adds Gally.

Minho snorts, "Yeah, no need to tell us that. Four bodies, remember?"

"There are going to be more bodies if you don't step on the bloody gas!" Newt says as he points at the sliding rear window. They all, excluding Gally, turned to look out of the window and saw the flesh eater still running behind them.

"Hold tight!" with that, Gally steps on the gas. Even with that, the creature seemed to be getting closer.

Minho gets behind Gally, so their heads are at the same level, "Step on it!"

"This is the vehicle's top speed!"

"I can run faster than this!" yells the raven boy outraged. Teresa pulls him back to his seat.

Aris holds on the passenger's assist handle, "To the left!"

Gally takes a turn on the left where Aris indicated him, the truck making a screeching sound almost like the flesh eater. Said creature, fortunately, wasn't expecting that violent turn so it tripped and went down on the ground. Though it was up on all four back again in no time and chasing them again.

Aris looks at the window to the side where they had come from, "No! Your other left!"

"I only have one left!"

Thomas glances behind at the creature and then at Aris, "Where to?"

"Your house!" Teresa says.

"No, the mountain ash line is broken. It will get in." answers Gally.

"Then where to?"

"Can't you see I'm driving here?! You decide, I'll drive us there!"

"Cole's house." Newt says in a low voice. They all stare at him, so he explains. "It's big and empty, and we can keep it there to buy us some time to escape."

Aris and Gally exchange looks.

"Hold on!"

He gives another harsh turn and drives to Cole's house. Luckily they will be able to get there without the flesh eater catching them first. Parking over Cole's house, the gang gets out of the truck and run towards the house.

"Get inside, now!"

They get to the house and close the door, though it would be useless. The flesh eater would just tear it apart to get in. Not even a minute later, the door is met with a harsh hit. Another one and another one which makes the door open. The flesh eater enters the house and moves its head around, trying to get the scent of the gang. Its elongated tongue lashes out in the air. Soon, it turns its head to the stairs and goes up, getting to the hall. The flesh eaters can also use their talons to scale vertical structures and ceilings with ease. But right now it was just a walk over the hall.

The flesh eater gets a scent from a room, so it follows the scent. The scent is very heavy on the sweet cedar side, with a little sandalwood underneath -Gally's scent. The creature walks to the room ad soon gets inside; the scent is coming from inside a closet, so the creature walks towards it, opening its mouth to show its pointy teeth. Once in front of the closet, the door opens and the scent is right over its face. The flesh eater trashes around the Gally scented jacket and throws it to the ground. There was no one in the closet. It goes to make a move when a pair of magical chains appear around its ankles, stopping his movements. The flesh eater turns at his chains and back at where Aris had appeared, on the other side of the room. Aris made a flick with his wrist and the rest of the gang appeared -an invisibility spell.

"Good luck next time, sucker!" he grabs Gally's hand, who in turn is being held by Thomas, and the rest are holding hands in a chain way. Suddenly as the creature jumps at them with its talons on the air, the gang disappears in thin air by magic. The flesh eater crashes against the table where the gang had been standing in front of seconds ago, chains still around its ankles.

The gang appears inside the mansion; they let go of their hands a little bit dizzy. Aris wavers a little, almost falling to the ground if not being held by the waist by Gally.

He chuckles a little dazed, "Puff... It has been long since the last time I made a group of people disappear and reaper in another place." he pats at Gally's arm holding him, "Okay, big guy. I'm fine,"

The tall sandy blond let go of him. Aris steadies himself. Thomas takes a step closer to Aris,

"So what now?"

"Now we call the seekers."

 

* * *

 

As Gally and Aris were busy getting the seekers to come, Thomas went to the sheriff's station to tell Vince everything they knew. To at least warn him about the flesh eater. He enters the station and looks around, trying to find Vince. He looks at the left and then to the right, then back to the left as he sees Vince walking towards the sheriff's office. He runs towards him,

_"Vince!"_ the older man notices him, but he doesn't stop to talk. "Vince, I've gotta talk to you!"

"Now it's not the time, Thomas."

"No, Vince, you don't under-

"No, _you_ don't understand." he says as he actually stops, facing the brunet, "I've got four murders, Thomas. _Four_. You see those men in there?" he says pointing at the two men inside the office talking to the sheriff, their backs at them, "That's the FBI. They're pulling together a task force to help because apparently we've got a full-blown serial killer on our hands. You get that?"

"Yes, I get it." he looks around to make sure no one can listen, "Listen, we might know what's happening."

" _'We'_? Who's _'we'_?"

"My friends and I."

"Oh, yeah, your pack."

Thomas opens his mouth to ask why he said _'pack'_ and what he meant with that but right now it's not the time so he shakes his head. "Yeah, whatever. Listen, it's one of the supernatural creatures from the list. It's a flesh eater."

_"WHAT?!"_ he practically yells. He lowers his voice once two heads turn towards them. "A flesh eater?!"

"You know about them?"

"Of course! You mean to tell me one of those is roaming around Beacon Hills?" he asks, although it wasn't a question meant to be answered. He runs a hand over his face, eyes closed for a moment. Thomas waits patiently.

"Sir?" comes the voice of a deputy exiting the office were the FBI was, clearly wanting him to get inside.

Vince sighs; he then points at him, "Stay out of this, Thomas." and starts walking to the office.

"But, Vince-

"I mean it!" and that's his last word about the issue; the door closes and he turns to talk to the FBI agents and the sheriff.

Thomas huffs in defeat. Why doesn't he understand?! He's in danger! All of them are if they go out and try to search for the supposed _'serial killer'_. As he starts cursing mentally all this situation, Alec walks beside him and noticing his predicament, he touches his shoulder to have his attention.

"Is everything alright, mini boss? Something happened?"

"Nothing, just... stuff with Vince, that's all."

"Well, you better obey him. We don't want him to get angry, right?" he says with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Alec nods and turns around to leave when something rings in Thomas head, "Hey, Alec!" the older brunet turns to him and makes an _'mm?'_ noise. Thomas opens his mouth but doesn't know how to say it. _'Take care of the murderous creature'_? "Just... don't be out alone at dark tonight."

Alec frowns in confusion. Thomas doesn't wait for him to answer or do anything else; he turns around and exits the station.

 

* * *

 

**_'Stay out of this.'_** Vince had told him. But Thomas was known for not doing what he was told. After leaving the station, he went back to the mansion to make a plan. The seekers were on their way, but who knew if the chains would hold the flesh eater for much longer.

"So, what's the plan?" Teresa asks.

Gally starts talking, "Well, the safest place to take the flesh eater and the seekers is the preserve. Nobody will be there, and so nobody will get hurt."

Minho nods. "I like it so far. Why do I feel that it sound easier than it really is?"

"Because many things can go wrong. The sun is going down, and we can't chase the flesh eater in the dark."

"Okay... So, we just wait for the seekers to appear and let them handle it?" Teresa asks.

"That's a way to say it. But in the meantime-

"Umm, guys?"

They all turn to Aris, who is staring at the nothing and then he turns to them, hands raised in front of him as he stares at them.

"It is free." he says.

Thomas frowns, "How can you know?"

"The chain was made with magic. I just felt how it broke and dissolved in thin air. The flesh eater is free and it will come here to find us."

"Well, then let's not be here when it gets here." Gally says as he grabs his sword leaning against the table. Aris goes behind him and so do Minho and Teresa, and as Newt goes to leave too, Thomas puts a hand over his arm to stop him.

"Hey, Newt?"

"Yeah?"

"Just... be careful."

Newt offers him a smile, "You too."

Thomas nods and they exit the room and join the others. Aris takes them to the entrance of the preserve with his magic. Then they start planning how everything is going to go. The flesh eater mustn't be that far away, if it noticed they aren't at the mansion anymore. Just a question of minutes before it comes to the preserve. Aris approaches the blond witch,

"Newt, you're good with shields and protective spells, right?"

"Kind of."

"I'm gonna need you to stay close to Minho and Teresa. They are the only ones who can't defend themselves." he glances at the other two, "No offense, guys."

"None taken." Minho says.

Newt nods, "Okay. I'll do it."

Gally turns to the brunet werewolf, "Thomas, you and I will have to keep the flesh eater near the preserve. If the flesh eater tries to escape, we're gonna have to use brute-force."

"And we have so much of that in here." adds Aris with a grin.

"Remind me again why are you without your cuff?"

"Because without me you guys wouldn't last a minute."

Gally swings the medium sized sword around his shoulders and over his head without blinking until it is stuck in the ground, his body turned to face Aris.

"I don't think we're that defenseless."

Aris grins.

As Gally gives a medium size -and not too heavy- sword to Minho, Thomas is looking around the woods. He can hear his heart pumping right over his ears. He's nervous. He's so nervous, and afraid, and what if this is all a stupid idea? He will get his friends killed and-

A hand circles around his fingers, holding it. Thomas turns to look at Newt, who offer shim a smile and nods at him as if telling him that everything was going to be alright. Thomas returns the smile and is thankful for him to hold him hand; he also returns the grip on his hand.

Seconds later, the smell of blood fills his senses and he whiplashes his head at the preserve. He lets go of the blond's hand and takes a step forward, having everyone's attention.

"It's here." he announces.

"Where?"

Thomas looks around confused.

"Thomas, where?" repeats Gally.

"It's coming from everywhere. It's like... like if it were running in circles around us."

That rings a bell inside Gally's brain. "Okay, it is hunting us! Be prepared!" Gally yells as he stands in position, sword ready.

"Woah, woah, woah!" yells Minho to have his attention, "You said it was dangerous to fight it!"

"I know! But we need to keep it occupied until the seekers come!"

"Oh, now that's just great!" the other answers sarcastically.

"Quiet! Here it comes!"

Everything is silent for almost a minute. Thomas even begins to think that maybe the flesh eater saw them all together and decided to leave. What if-

He doesn't get to finish formulating that thought 'cus out of the nowhere the flesh eater launches at them, claws ready to attack. Gally manages to cut him, but just barely as the flesh eater evades it. It lands on the other side of them, with a wide chance to run away and they wouldn't be able to catch it. But it stays. Gally was right: it was hunting them. He wasn't gonna run away.

The flesh eater opens its mouth and its tongue lashes at them, but not really wanting to touch them.

"A quick lesson about flesh eaters!" yells Aris, "They may have lost the use of their eyes entirely and cannot track their preys by sight, but their super-developed hearing more than compensates for the loss. Also their quadrupedal bone structure makes it more suitable for them to crawl about on all fours, and they can also use their talons to scale vertical structures and ceilings."

"Oh great! Can it fly too?!"

"Minho, concentrate!" yells Thomas to his friend.

The flesh eater launches again at them, this time with its tongue out and lashing around, trying to grab any one of them.

"Don't let the tongue get you! It's capable of piercing human flesh!" yells Aris as he throws a fire ball to the creature but missing.

The flesh eater seems to look around and it focuses on Teresa, who is standing alone. Gally notices it,

"Teresa!" he throws the medium sized sword to the raven girl, who manages to catch it as the flesh eater lands in front of her.

Teresa trembles but she stands on her ground, "Come on!" she yells at it.

In that moment, Thomas tackles the creature to the ground, holding it. Newt appears beside Teresa's side in case the creature breaks free. The flesh eater starts squirming, trying to get free; its tongue gets out of its mouth, Thomas avoiding it. Aris summons a fiery bow and arrow, and aims it at the creature being held by the werewolf. He shoots the fiery arrow but the creature manages to kick Thomas off and runs, avoiding the arrow.

"Damn it!"

Thomas quickly gets up on his feet, claws and fangs out. He stands in front of Teresa and Newt.

Gally summons another sword but he's suddenly thrown to the ground by the flesh eater, his sword thrown away from his hands and onto the ground, away from him.

The flesh eater is right above Gally, letting out a sibilant hissing sound as the tall blond fights to keep it away. Before it can do anything, a green rope made of magic appears around the flesh eater's neck, holding him and preventing him from getting closer to Gally. Aris is at the other end of the rope, pulling at it. Gally looks around and sees where his sword landed; he tries to reach it with one hand, keeping the other hand to the flesh eater's head so it won't get closer.

Instead, Minho grabs the sword and plunges it into the flesh eater's back, careful not to get to Gally. The creature lets out a screeching sound but instead of falling down or something like that, it uses its tongue to grab at the sword plunged into his back and pulls at it, taking it out. Minho's eyes widen,

_"Holy-_

The creature swings the sword around and throws it away again. It turns its head to Minho's way and snarls. Thomas is quick to climb above the creature and onto its back, sinking his claws into the creature's skin. It lets out an agonizing screech and jumps away from Gally, giving the opportunity to Minho to help him get up on his feet. Newt and Teresa run towards them to be together. Meanwhile, the flesh eater is trying to make the werewolf get off of him. Thomas doesn't let him; he claws at the front part of its face -even though it doesn't have eyes- and it screeches again. Unfortunately, it manages to grab Thomas with its tongue and throws him away from it.

Aris runs towards him and he catches Thomas with another green rope, pulling him back before he hits a tree. He pulls him down on the ground and kneels beside him. Thomas coughs a couple of times but aside from that he's fine.

"Thanks,"

Thomas looks back at the flesh eater, who is now a couple of meters away from them and its snarling and lashing its tongue out. It looked furious.

Just when they thought they were totally done, two hooded figures -one of them holding an old lantern- appeared out of nowhere. They were wearing some old brown rags draped around their bodies, totally covering them; not even their faces or the hand holding the lantern were shown ([x](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/5e/63/ee/5e63ee85641f29494668241e8af4bdb7.jpg)). It seriously gave you the creeps. Wait a minute...

"Are those...?"

Aris nods, "Seekers."

The two seekers kept walking -more like floating; they seemed to be floating- towards where the flesh eater was, not bothering to acknowledge the gang, their heads turned to the front. The flesh eater snarled at them, its tongue lashing at them. They didn't stop nor jumped in fear. They didn't seem to fear the creature. But at the same time the creature wasn't that afraid of them either.

Thomas took a step forward in case the flesh eater ran away or the seekers would need any help.

"Wait!" Aris pressed a hand to Thomas' chest to stop him, "We must not interfere."

The seekers were finally close enough to the flesh eater now. One of them, -the one without the lantern- walked to the opposite side of the flesh eater and soon it appeared as if they had cornered it; the flesh eater had one seeker on the front and the other on the back. It kept turning from one to another, as if checking they weren't going to surprise-attack him. Thomas didn't knew what they were going to do, but they better do it quick.

Both seekers held one of their hands so they were parallel to the other seeker and soon a chain appeared and it was thrown around the flesh eater. The creature screeched but the chain was finally around the flesh eater, securing it. The seeker holding the lantern soon approached the other and they gave a tug at the chain. Was that all? They had also chained it and it got away.

One of the seekers -the one without the lantern- raised his hand to the right. The ground trembled and soon a blinding light appeared right at where the seeker was pointing, successfully opening a portal to the Underworld.

When the portal opened, there was a sucking action; the gang had to kneel close to the ground to avoid being sucked in. The two seekers didn't move, they let the portal suck them and entered the portal. The flesh eater's chain was inside the portal and chained to the creature, pulling at it. But the flesh eater wasn't going to go down without a fight, or at least wasn't planning on going alone; it latch its slippery tongue around Minho's left foot and pulled at it. The Asian male fell to the ground and he was dragged to the creature and the portal.

_"Minho!"_

It had been so quick that neither of the ones who were near him had been able to grab him. Gally prevented Newt and Teresa from moving. The raven male started yelling as he was dragged. He tried to make the tongue let go of him but it was slippery and it cut his palms. Thomas wanted to go for his best friend but a pair of hands stopped him from doing so. Before anyone noticed, Teresa was on her feet and, picking up one of the swords that Gally had dropped, she ran to where Minho was; she raised the sword above her head and brought it down over the flesh eater's tongue, cutting it in half. The creature screech in pain, throwing Minho towards the rest of the gang, and instead latched its tongue at Teresa's leg, pulling at her. The raven haired girl screamed and started to claw at the ground. The gang gasped, and Thomas' eye fell on her.

_"Teresa!"_

Ignoring everything that his brain was yelling at him, the brunet werewolf sprung to his feet and ran at her direction. Thomas threw himself at the ground and as he crawled to get closer, he managed to grab Teresa's hand. But the portal was stronger, and it kept sucking everything. The creature let out a screeching sound, but did not let go of the raven haired girl. Thomas felt himself getting dragged too quickly, so he stuck his left hand into the ground, trying to anchor himself. It did help.

_"Thomas!"_ he heard his best friend yell.

But Thomas was far more concerned on the girl that was being dragged; he tried so hard, but the bracelet was digging in his palm which only meant one thing: she was slipping from his grip and he knew it. She knew it too. Her eyes could tell it. They were shiny, making the blue in her eyes look like two drops of icy water. The creature was sucked into the portal and seconds later, like a vacuum sucks the dust, Teresa was pulled. She slipped from Thomas' grasp, leaving behind only her bracelet on the brunet's hand. Thomas and everyone else saw as she was dragged into the portal and as soon as she went through it, it closed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger!! Don't hate me!  
> I really hope you liked this chapter! I'll be waiting to see what you think of it! Unfortunately tomorrow I have a kids party (for my 5 year-old niece since her birthday it's on the 27th, but they made her a party with her friends from school) so maybe I won't have time to read your reviews and questions, but maybe at night or the next day I will!  
> See you next Friday (oh, 23rd!! It'll be a night before Christmas present)!


	11. Time Is Running Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it. They thought I wasn't going to make it but I did! I managed to finish this chapter between yesterday and this morning!  
> Why the hurry, you may ask... Well, this chapter is dedicated to Ash333, 'cus today is their (sorry, don't know gender) birthday and the request for this chapter on a birthday made my heart jump, so here it is! I hope you enjoy the chapter, Ash333, as well as the rest of you!

After the portal closed, everyone stood still. No one made a move for anything. Thomas lay unmoving on his stomach over the ground; arm stretched forward still holding the golden bracelet on his hand. His eyes were glued to where the portal had been a couple of seconds ago. Where Teresa had been seconds ago. His chest went up and down, up and down. He looked at the bracelet on his hand and gripped it tight.

"No..." he manages to get back on his feet, staggering a little. "No, no, no, no, no! Teresa!" he looks back at the gang, "She's- we have to-

"The portal closed." Aris says.

"But there has to be a way-

"It's closed, Thomas! Don't you get it? Closed! It won't open again! She's gone to the Underworld."

"As in... Greek mythology?" Minho asks, finally standing up. The others follow.

"No, as in, the Underworld? Place where the souls of the departed go, an afterlife or a realm of the dead?" Minho doesn't move at all, obviously not understanding what the witch just said. Aris sighs in resignation, "Yeah, the Greek one it's an otherworld too."

Thomas groans; then he starts pacing around. "This is bad. She's there alone with the flesh eater... And the seekers! They are going to hurt her!"

"No, they won't. They aren't violent creatures." Aris says.

"So they'll bring her back?" he asks with a little bit of hope.

"No. They may not hurt her but they also aren't obligated to help her in any way. They had a mission and they fulfilled it. Whatever happens after that they don't care."

Thomas shakes his head, "Can you open a portal to the Underworld?"

Aris snorts. "No one can open a portal to the Underworld."

"But _they_ -

"Yes, _'they'_. They're especial creatures from the Underworld."

Thomas huffs, bringing both hands to his hair and wanting to rip it. He has to control his claws so he doesn't hurt himself. He looks back at where the portal used to be and he wishes that Teresa was fine. He really wishes that.

 

* * *

 

Teresa was lying over something uncomfortable, that's the first thing she noticed once she came back to consciousness. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked; she was lying on her side and apparently she was over some kind of ground. She slowly raised her head but didn't stand up. She took a good look around the place where she was. It look deserted, no one on plain sight. Not even a building, car, or anything at all. The sky was a reddish color, almost as if the sun were going down; even the air felt different. A shiver went down her spine as she continued to stare at the distance of the lonely place.

She heard the distinctive noise of chains and when she turned her head to the side, she was almost attacked by the flesh eater if she hadn't jumped back, and that thing was chained. She crawled to have a good distance with the creature. The chain holding the flesh eater was tugged, and so the creature was hauled farther away from her. Teresa looked up at the two seekers, one of them holding the chain while the other was still holding the lantern. That's when she realized where she was:  she was in the Underworld. No traces of Thomas, or Minho or anyone for that matter. How could she go back? Was there even a way to go back?

The seeker who was holding the lantern approached her slowly. Teresa didn't know what to do. Should she run? Should she scream? Should she try to fight?

Suddenly, instead of all the scenarios going through her mind, the seeker held his lantern to her, almost as if he were offering it to her. Teresa looked at the lantern and back at the seeker; she took a hold of the lantern as the seeker let go of it. Instead of turning around and leave, the seeker stayed there. It looked like the seeker was staring at her, but she couldn't tell because the hood covered his face. A couple of seconds later, the seeker turned around to where the other seeker was and made his way towards him; both of them then continued their path with the flesh eater until they disappeared out of sight. Teresa stayed down on the ground, holding the still lighten lantern, and once again all alone.

 

* * *

 

The gang was still in the same place, not moving at all as they were still trying to decide what to do. Everything that they could do. Thomas was still standing near the portal, his eyes falling over it once in a while; Minho was crouching while staring at the nothing, maybe he was thinking. Newt was standing beside Thomas, arms crossed over his chest and staring at the brunet werewolf with worry. Aris was sitting on the ground, arms resting over his knees. Gally was resting against a tree, one leg crossed in front of the other one.

"What about the seekers?" Minho asks.

"What about them?" Gally asks.

"Can't you just call them again and, I don't know, tell them there's another of those creatures here and that they need to come?"

"Do you know what happens when you call the police for an emergency and then they come and they find out there's no emergency?!"

Minho huffs, ignoring the tall sandy blond. Thomas was still staring at the empty place, not moving at all when suddenly he jumped and turned around to face the others,

"I got it!"

They all turned their attention to him. Minho and Aris stood up from the ground, and Gally took a step forward to them.

"What is it?" Aris asks.

"We can go down the Underworld and bring her back."

Aris doesn't move at all; then he starts laughing, holding his stomach, "Oh, boy. You are funny!" he wipes a tear from his eyes and then turns serious, "What, are you out of your wolf-dammit mind?! We can't _'go down the Underworld and bring her back'_!" It's not like going hiking! We're talking about the Underworld. That place is dangerous! It's dangerous to go!"

Thomas takes a step forward, "But there's a way, right? You didn't say there wasn't a way. You said it was dangerous."

"I told you, no one can open-

"You said a portal. But a portal can't be the only way to enter it. There has to be more than one entrance, right?"

Aris doesn't say anything, mouth hanging open. He glances over at Gally who shrugs like saying _'you should give it a try'_. The lighter brunet witch turns back to Thomas and sighs,

"There... might be a way."

Everyone's -except Gally and Aris'- eyes widen after he says that.

Newt frowns, "Why didn't you said so?"

"It's an unorthodox way! Not everyone uses it, and it might not work at all."

"But it _might_ work, right?" presses on Thomas.

Aris stares at him with a red face and a look that he couldn't believe the guy standing in front of him. "Are you deaf or just simply stupid?!" he sighs, "Yes, it might work! Just... let me grab some stuff and we can go."

Minho blinks a few times, "What, you mean right now?"

"Yes. I just need to grab some things from my room so we can go."

"But what about our parents?" Aris sends him a strange look, so Minho explains.  "Okay. Let's say we do this. How are we going to explain Teresa's disappearance to her parents? Or ours, for what matters?"

"We won't." simply says Thomas.

"We won't?"

"We won't tell them we're leaving."

Minho takes a step to his friend, grabbing him by the arm, "Thomas, listen to me for a second." they take a couple of steps away so they have a little privacy. "You know I'm always with you. Mumps and werewolf stuff, remember? But this?" he looks at the side and back at him, "Thomas, we're talking about going to the Underworld. We might not get back. I at least would like to say goodbye to my family."

Thomas stares at his best friend; stares right into his eyes. He can feel the worry in them, but not for himself. But for his family. How would they feel if something happens to him and they don't even know where he is. He knows he's asking for too much from all of them. He nods,

"Okay. But don't tell them where we're going."

Minho snorts, "As if they would believe me." they walk back to the gang. "So? Gonna get your stuff or something?

Aris nods. "We're gonna have to be prepared for anything. Meet us at the house in half hour."

 

* * *

 

Thomas went to the station to find Vince. Mary was busy at the hospital and couldn't see him, but at least he would be able to say goodbye to Vince. When he arrived a deputy told him he was out for the moment but he would come back in a few. As Thomas waited for him, the brunet scientist approached him, nudging him softly on the side to have his attention.

Alec smiles at him, "Hey, what's with the long face? Did someone died?" his smile falls, "Oh my god, someone died, didn't they?"

"No, no- I was just waiting for Vince, that's all!"

Alec puts a hand over his chest, "Uff, for a moment I thought we would have another body. No, thanks. Four are enough."

Thomas smiles too. Yeah, four bodies were enough. He continues to wait until he notices that Alec is still standing beside him, looking around the station.

"Alec?"

"Yep, mini boss?"

"Don't you have work to do?"

"No, actually. I'm going to keep you company until Vince gets here. Only if you want me to."

Thomas smiles, "Yeah, I would like that."

"You see that? Brunets together versus the world." he nudges Thomas again, and the werewolf returns the gesture.

After the laughter dies, Thomas looks at the clock. Maybe Vince would be late and he wouldn't be able to say goodbye. Or even if he came he might not have time to do it. Or worst, he would make him explain his weird behavior and then he wouldn't let him go rescue Teresa.

Thomas stands up, "You know what? I actually have homework and I shouldn't be here. When you see Vince can you tell him to look in my bedroom when he gets home?"

"...Okay. I don't know why that sounds strange but I'll do it."

"Thanks."

Thomas turns to go but he turns back and quickly hugs Alec, surprising the older brunet. Not even this close he can get a scent from the man. Damn it, maybe he was nervous. He separates from Alec and nods,

"Goodbye!" and he runs out of the station. Alec waves behind him slightly confused.

 

* * *

 

Minho opened the door of his house and entered the building. When he saw that there was no one on the first floor, he decided to go to the backyard for his dog. He opened the door and the dog ran directly at him. Minho sat on the floor of the house as the dog happily jumped at him.

"Hey, Judge. Hey, buddy..." he grabs the dog's face so he's facing him, "Listen; you gotta take care of my folks and Kira, alright? And you can have my bedroom just don't pee on the bed, my mom won't like that. Umm... You have the vet appointment the next week. I guess I won't be there, so you have to promise me you'll be good, yeah? You gonna be good, boy?" the dog licks his face and he smiles, "I'm gonna miss you so much." with that he bring the dog closer to him so he can hide his face on the dog's neck, the fur tickling his nose. The dog stays in his place, happily moving his tail and letting his owner hug him.

_"Minho? Is that you?"_

Minho let go of his dog and rubs his nose as the dog runs away inside the house, and he answers his mother,

"Yeah, it's me."

He hears his mom's heels as she goes down the stairs. He rubs his nose and his right eyes as he stands up, his back at the older woman.

"Hey, honey. I was just going to the supermarket, we run out of milk and I wanted to know if you-" she doesn't get to finish what she's saying because suddenly Minho is hugging her mother, his strong arms around her and hands gripping at her back. "Whoa! Hey, what is it-

"Nothing, just... wanted to hug you." mutters the Asian male against his mom's hair, eyes closed.

His mom doesn't ask about his weird behavior, but instead hugs Minho back. The dog -Judge- runs back to them and sits beside them, tail moving over the floor.

 

* * *

 

At the mansion, Gally was sitting on the edge of his bed in his room; he was hunched forward with his arms resting on his legs. On his hands he had a phone and he was staring at it.

"Aren't you going to call your mother?"

He hears a voice coming from behind and turns to see Aris leaning against the doorframe, one leg crossed in front of the other and arms crossed over his chest. Gally wasn't even going to say _'why do you care'_ , or _'none of your business'_ , or something like that, but he didn't felt the need.

"Why would I?" the lighter brunet raises an eyebrow at him, "The line was busy, anyway." he clears his throat but he doesn't let go of the phone. He hesitates before he holds the phone the lighter brunet, "You wanna call someone?"

Aris is the one who doesn't move now. His voice doesn't sound sad as he says "...There's no one to call. No one who would miss me, remember?" he says raising his cuffed hand.

Gally doesn't move his arm from where he's holding out the phone to Aris. "There's gotta be someone you can call."

Aris seems to think about it for a moment, then he looks at the sandy blond, "Do you think the Council would like a call from me?" he asks with a smirk.

Gally snorts, "That's better."

 

* * *

 

After the station, Thomas went back home even thought it was empty. He felt bad he couldn't get to say goodbye to Vince and Mary. But thinking about it now, he couldn't get to say goodbye to his dad either as he wasn't here at Beacon Hills. He went upstairs and to his room; he knew what he had to do. He grabbed a paper and a pen from his desk and sat in the same, deciding to write a letter to explain -for Vince to find- everything in case they didn't make it. He would explain about the flesh eater being no longer here so they wouldn't have to worry about more murders. How he did what Vince told him not to do and how Teresa ended up in the Underworld and how they went to rescue her. If they didn't make it, Vince would have to explain it to all of their parents. It was too much to put over his shoulders, but he didn't know what else to do. He finished the letter and put it over his desk where he knew his godparents would find it. He was too immersed in his thoughts that he hadn't heard the main door open or someone going upstairs to where he was. A sweet calming scent fills his senses. He turns and finds Newt standing over the door, holding a hand to knock on the door but it stopped mid-air.

"Hey,"

"Hi. Sorry to startle you." he enters the brunet's room.

"No, no. You didn't startled me." he clears his throat, "Did you- did you already... you know?"

Newt offers him a smile, "No, I... My mom was working and my grandma wasn't home. I left them a note in my desk."

"Sorry,"

Newt shakes his head, "It's fine. You?"

"Both were working too."

"Sorry."

"No, it's fine. I left them a letter in case..." he doesn't finish that sentence. Was this really a good plan? Risking the lives of his friends? But what about Teresa? She didn't ask anything of this.

"Hey," A hand grabs his and he calms down, "We'll figure it out. First we need to rescue Teresa."

Thomas stares at him and nods. He likes the feeling of the blond's hand on his.

 

* * *

 

After that, they went to Gally and Aris' house. The other two were over the dining room, standing in front of the big table that had several things over it. There were some jars with different colors and things inside them, some daggers, some herbs and flowers, and things like that.

"What's all this?" asked Minho.

"I told you. If we're going to the Underworld we need to be prepared. I took out only the essential, so I'll give each of you what I think will be more useful."

They approach the table and look at its content. Minho sees and picks up a purple flower by its stem and turns around with it still on hand, "What's this?"

Thomas turns his head to his friend and unfortunately he was standing very close to the Asian male, so the flower finds itself against his face. Thomas eyes suddenly glow yellow and he takes a big step away from his best friend, and starts coughing.

" _Arggh!_ What's that?!"

Aris grabs the flower from Minho's hand, "That's wolfsbane, also known as aconite. Is an extremely toxic herb, especially for werewolves; don't touch it."

"Sorry." Minho says.

Newt takes a step closer to Thomas, who was still coughing and trying to calm down. He puts a hand over his back, "You alright?"

Thomas nods. He manages to catch his breath and reincorporates back again. He watches as Aris starts packing everything in a satchel.

"So how are we going to go to the Underworld?" he asks to the witch.

"Oh, you're not going to like it."

 

* * *

 

They should've known it was going to be bad once Aris said they wouldn't like it. Of course they wouldn't like it! They had arrived at the cemetery! They followed Aris as the lighter brunet witch continued walking between the tombstones, not sparing a glance at the gloomy place. Gally didn't seemed bothered by any of this. Aris stopped and so did they once they saw he stopped in front of an angel of death tombstone. It was a skeleton covered in ropes, only its face and hands showing; it had big wings, and was holding with its left arm high above a scythe. Like the cemetery couldn't get creepier, they just had to build a tombstone with that figure. Aris stood in front of it without moving; just staring at it.

"Is something wrong?" Thomas asks.

Gally holds a hand up to stop him. They all watch as Aris takes out a small jar filled with some blue liquid and a small dagger. He cuts his palm with the dagger and pours some of the blue liquid over his fresh cut, wincing a little as he did it. He then proceeds to take a few steps until he's standing close to the tombstone and presses his hand to the angel of death figure.

"I open at the close."

The place where his hand was starts glowing and he retreats his hand back. The blood and blue liquid mingle and soon disappear as if it hadn't been there in the first place.

" _'I open at the close'_?" Minho asks.

"It's a magic safeword. Since you're dead, you are welcoming going to the Underworld."

Minho nods, "Huh. That's actually brilliant."

The ground around them starts trembling a little as the tombstone moves its scythe down. Then the whole angel of death figure moves to the side to let see that underneath it was a big hole and some stairs.

"So this is the entrance to the Underworld?" Newt asks.

"Not exactly."

With that, Aris starts walking again and goes down the stairs, Gally following him. The other three stare at each other and nod, following the other two downstairs. The first thing Thomas noticed were spider webs. Spider webs over the ceiling, over the wall and the wall made of rough stone; it looked like an old crypt or something. Even thought this was underground and should be in complete darkness, there were candles around them, placed in specific points so it could light up their way. As they got closer to whatever they were going, they all saw a hooded figure -a man, by the looks of it- standing on top of a dock by the edge of where a river seemed to flow and a boat was tied to the dock post. The man didn't seem to have noticed them or he didn't care about their presence; his face was turned to the front and not looking at them.

Minho patted Thomas' shoulder to have his attention, "Thomas, who's that creepy guy with the hoodie?"

"I don't know. Let's find out."

They approach the hooded man, who doesn't even blink at them. Once they're standing near, the man turns his head to look at them with no expression, "Who are you?" he demands.

"We need to go to the Underworld." Thomas says.

"The living are not permitted here. Die and come back." he turns his head away.

"Okay…" Minho said, "We won't _'die and come back'_ , but..." he sighs, turning to the guys, "You know what? I think I know what he wants." Thomas shrugs, not knowing. "We've got to pay the ferryman. Watch this." he then turned to the man, "Hey, my friend." the ferryman turned again to look at him, "You like dead people, right?" as he asked that, he got his hand into his pocket, "I got a few dead people you might recognize." he said taking out a few dollars, "Check this out: Jackson, Grant -and look who came to the party. Benjamin Franklin." he grins, "You like that, don't you?"

Behind him, Aris puts a hand over his mouth to muffle a chuckle and Gally rolls his eyes, shaking his head in a disapproving manner.

"Give us a boat ride, and take the money. Simple as that, all right?" he puts the money in the man's extended hand, who just stands there without moving. Moments later, the money in his hand burst into flames. Minho lets out a small cry like _'why the hell did you burn my money?!'_ while Thomas turns to Newt, trying not to laugh at his friend.

"That was $170!" the Asian male says.

Aris freely chuckles, putting a hand over Gally's bicep as he doubled in half. The rest of them turned to him in confusion.

"What?" asked Newt.

The lighter brunet wipes a fake tear as he turns to Minho, "You are so cute. He's the ferryman who carries the souls of the newly deceased across and to the Underworld. You have to pay him, yes. But mortal money won't do."

"Then what?"

"Usually an obolus or danake, or even drachmas will do."

Thomas hears a bell ringing at that word. _Drachmas._ He has heard that word before. His eyes widen as his head shots up, remembering Teresa's bracelet and that he had it.

"The bracelet!"

Everyone looks at him in confusion, not knowing what that meant. Thomas fishes inside his pocket and takes out Teresa's bracelet, holding it so the guys can see the drachmas. He steps forward and hands it to ferryman. The man looks at the coins with shining eyes and takes them; he motioned for them to climb aboard the boat.

"Climb aboard."

 

* * *

 

Teresa continued walking while holding the lantern in her left hand. Not that it were dark and she couldn't see anything. The thing wasn't even lighten on. It had stopped shining after a minute when the seekers left. But still she didn't left it behind; something told her that it might be useful later. As for the place she was, she had been walking for what it seemed to be hours and still there wasn't any trace of life. Maybe she's walking in circles? Or was this place like the desert and there was still a long way to walk?

She let out a sigh. Instead of worrying about how much she had to walk, she started thinking about her friends. We're they looking for a way to find her and rescue her? We're they even going to rescue her from the Underworld? Was that possible?

She stopped as she raised her head and that's when she saw a blurry figure at the distance.

"Hello?" she called out but she didn't get an answer. She continued to walk ahead to the figure. "Hello?"

She tried again and as she got closer she could see the figure clearer; she stopped in her tracks and her words died in her mouth when she saw that the figure had not only one but two... three heads and they all turned towards her. They stayed like that for almost a minute, neither of them moving. Teresa felt the hand holding the lantern trembling but she didn't move. It was only when the figure turned their body to her that Teresa reacted and started running, knowing that the figure was following behind. She ran like mad, the lantern making a clicking noise as she ran but right now she could only hear her heart beating fast in her ears. She didn't wasted time in turning around to see if the figure was still behind her; she knew it was. Suddenly, something flew above her head and landed a few meters in front of her. It looked like a giant -bigger than her, that's for sure- star-nosed mole but with three heads instead of one, each of them with fleshy appendages that were supposed to be their mouth. Teresa yelled and quickly turned to the left. Now that she had seen the creature she didn't had any reason to turn around and waste time.

At the distance she could make out a big castle. If she could get there maybe she could get help. She didn't knew who lived there but anything would be better than this creature. The creature let out a snarl. Teresa was getting closer to where the castle was but unfortunately it wasn't going to be that easy. She managed to stop before falling into the big pit separating her and where the castle was. It wasn't that big and she even maybe able to jump across it... but what if she failed?

She turned to see the creature approaching her, fleshy tendrils moving as it ran. She took some air and risking it all, she took some steps behind and then ran with all her might, and jumped across the pit. She successfully managed to cross it but she landed hard on the ground on the other side, knocking her unconscious. The creature continued to run but instead of following her steps to the other side, it stopped before jumping across the pit. It snarled at where the girl was lying and surprisingly turned around and left. Teresa was still unconscious, lantern lying beside her. Steps were heard near and then two shadows fell over her, covering her unconscious body.

 

* * *

 

Thomas has never been on a boat, let alone a boat that was navigated by a ferryman that was taking them to the Underworld. They had managed to fit inside the boat and as soon as they were all ready, the ferryman started sailing. At first it didn't seem that magical or awesome, but as soon as they crossed the dark metallic gates, it's like they had crossed over to another universe. The river in which they were sailing was a powder blue color; Thomas didn't want to risk touching it even if it looked clear. The sky was a reddish color like a sunset but had grey clouds. There was still sunlight even though there shouldn't be this lighten up? Or maybe it was like this always? Who knows. The rest of his friends looked around the place with their mouths open. Soon they were getting close to another dock at the end of the shore. The boat approached and lightly made contact with the dock, making it stop.

"We have arrived." the ferryman announced.

Thomas was the first to climb out of the boat, and as his friends got out of the boat as well, he took his time in admiring their surroundings: there was no one at sight. No Teresa, no anyone. There were debris and parts of pillars like if a building had been destroyed and only broken pieces were left. When Thomas turned around to the boat, he saw that the ferryman had gone back to row away from the dock and disappeared in the distance. Okay, so this was it.

"Okay, we gotta stick close." Gally said.

"Big guy is right." Aris says as they start walking to... Thomas doesn't even know where they are going. There were pillars around them, that's all. "Also try not to get hurt. This is the Underworld, which means that my magic, our magic," he says meaning him and Newt, "won't work. We won't be able to cure any wound."

"Not even a small one?" questions Minho.

"Not even a scrape on the knee."

Minho cringes, "I really hope that we don't stay that long."

"Don't worry, we won't." assured him Newt; then he turns to Thomas, "So, what's the plan?"

Thomas opens his mouth but he doesn't answer. "Uh..." he looks at anything but the blond.

Newt's eyes widen at noticing it. "You don't have a plan?!" he asked in a rather sexy high pitched accent.

"I, uh-"

"You made us follow you all the way here only to tell us you don't have a plan?!"

"The plan was to rescue Teresa and after that... I, uh, thought I would come up with an idea."

Minho groans and covers his face. Thomas turns to the lighter brunet witch,

"Aris, is there a way to get out of the Underworld?"

"What all of you think this place is? _Disneyland?!_ You can't go in and out of the Underworld whenever you want!

"Why didn't you told us that?!"

"Why didn't you told us you didn't had a plan?!"

"Maybe because I don't work well at situations under pressure!"

"Guys, calm down!" yells Minho, putting a hand over his best friend's shoulder. "Fighting about 'who should have done what' now doesn't matter right now."

"Minho's right," Newt says, "We gotta calm down and find Teresa, then find a way to get out of here."

_"Troubles, mates?"_

At the source of the voice and knowing it didn't belong to any of them, they all get closer and in stance of fight; Gally took a sword out, both Aris and Newt raised their hands and held them to the front in case they needed to use magic, Minho held out the sword that Gally had given to him, and Thomas tried to stand in front so that he somehow was covering his friends. He was not letting anything happen to them.

They all had their eyes looking around, trying to see where the voice had come from until they see a tall figure leaning against a broken pillar. A man. He was tall and lithe, and also dark in appearance. He had silver-golden yellow eyes resembling an eclipse, dull pale-gray skin, and glossy black hair that is styled to come out as slick, sharp spikes from the back of his head. He was wearing a long, black robe with a v-neck line and black footwear. Too much black and it made Thomas wary of him, something telling him to not take his eyes off him.

"Who are you?" Gally asks. The man turns his head towards them.

"My name is Elrik, and I couldn't help but to hear your predicament." he starts walking around them, not quite getting closer but neither getting away. "It seems to me that you are both lost and looking for something lost. Am I right?"

Still wary, Thomas nods, "Yeah... Actually, we're looking for our friend. Teresa. Dark hair, blue eyes? Fair skin?"

"I haven't seen anyone with those characteristics, but... If you come with me, I might be able to help you. And you want to get out of the Underworld too, right? I can help you with that... but you'll have to do something for me in exchange."

Minho tugs at the back of Thomas' shirt, "Thomas, this guy gives me the creeps. We shouldn't trust him."

"He's right, Thomas. We don't know if he's trustworthy." Aris says.

Thomas knew they were right but... This man said he knew a way out of the Underworld. What if it was their only chance? But what if he was just using them? Thomas couldn't put his friends in danger, not more than they were already.

"Thanks but... I think we'll do this alone. No offense."

The man, Elrik, shrugs like he doesn't care. "Whatever you say. If you change your mind, I'll be right here."

The gang continued their way, passing at a side of Elrik as the man just stared at them, not making a move or anything. Just staring. Neither of them looked back and didn't saw as the man smirked. Thomas felt a shiver going down his spine and glanced over his shoulder to keep an eye on the man until the figure is no longer visible. After that he sighs in relief and faces the front again. They were walking for half an hour and still no sights of Teresa. They had, whoever, found more collapsed buildings, rubble and debris.

Minho panted, already tired of walking without any success.

"Guys, I don't like being a party pooper... but we're not going to find her like this. We don't know where we are. We aren't sure if we've been walking in circles!"

"Well, we don't have a map or something, so the best chance is to keep walking." answered Gally, sword still in hand.

Suddenly, Minho stops and looks around. Thomas notices the worried and confused look on his friend's face.

"Did you hear that?" Minho asks.

"What?"

The rest of the gang notice they stop and so they stop too. The Asian male turns around again, eyebrows together,

"It sounded like... someone rustling over a bush or something."

Thomas tries to use his wolf hearing and indeed, there was a rustling noise coming from the distance. Then he heard a snarl and galloping towards them. Then they saw it: a three-headed creature running towards them. Shit.

_"RUN!"_

They don't have to be told twice. They run to the other side, and Thomas can hear the steps of the creature as its feet touch the ground while running. They continue running and soon they see a big castle at the distance, but before that they manage to avoid falling into a pit, separating them from where the castle was.

"Come on, we'll do this with magic." Aris says as he takes a couple of steps back, ready to jump.

Minho realizes what he's planning. "You want to jump?!"

"Do you want to stay?"

Minho turns to look at the creature running towards them, and he looks back at the brunet witch. "Do the honors."

The witch nods at Gally, who disappears his sword and approaches the Asian male and before he can say anything, the tall sandy blond grabs his hand and Aris' hand and they are running towards the edge and finally jump. Thomas feels his hear wanting to jump to prevent his friend from falling but instead of falling to their dead, the three guys seem to be floating and land on the other side. Magic, right. With the creature still running towards them and not stopping, Thomas turns to Newt, who is already looking at him, and the blond holds his hand out. Thomas takes it and after sharing a meaningful look they both look at the front and start running. Just as they reach the edge they jump and Newt's magic helps them to cross safely to the other side, falling on their sides on the hard ground.

As they got their breath, they all turned to look at the other side. The creature did not jump; it stopped at the edge and snarled at them. It turned around and it looked like it was leaving.

Minho had a hand to his chest, "I don't think it is going to jump."

But he spoke too soon: the creature started running fast, ready to jump over the edge.

"I think it changed its mind!" yells Aris as they all took a step back, still looking at the creature.

The three-headed creature jumped over the edge but as soon as its feet left the ground, something came out of the nowhere and it vaporized the creature in mid-air. The gang stared in impact as there was no longer a creature chasing them. They turned around and found themselves with some kind of skeleton-covered-in-pieces-of-skin guards pointing their swords at them and surrounding them.

 

* * *

 

The guards took them to the castle they had run to: it was made of glittering black obsidian, with a black marble portico, and once inside they admired the entry hall which had a polished bronze floor. It was a luxurious place. After walking through the entry hall they saw another big door guarded by four guards. The four guards moved aside to let them go through the door and soon the gang and two guards were inside another room. But this room was different. It looked much bigger and there at the end of the room, was a huge black onyx throne. They came to a stop a few meters away from it. The guards took three steps away from the gang and they just stood still, looking at the front where the throne was.

Minho looked around, "So what? Are we going to have to wait and talk to some dude?"

The sound of a door opening had their attention and made them look over at the front again. Whatever they were imagining it would be, they certainly did not expect a beautiful woman. Her long dark hair flies all over the place as if there wasn't gravity. With the light it seemed that her skin was a blue-ish color -maybe it was, maybe it was the light?- and she possesses two red eyes with yellow background cornea. Over her long and slender fingers there were a pair of claws. She was wearing a simple purple dress that touched the floor and hide her feet. She was beautiful yet intimidating. All the guys stared at the woman.

"Not a dude... It's not a dude." Minho said at seeing the woman sit on the throne.

"And what's this?" she asked her guards.

"We found them wandering around the castle."

Her eyes moved from the guards and to the gang and she stared at them without blanking. Almost a minute went by before she spoke again, "Release them."

The guards did so, and soon they went back to guard the door, leaving the gang alone with the mysterious woman. As if she had read their minds, she offered a grin and said aloud,

"I'm Eris, ruler of the Underworld. I can see that you are not dead, so that brings out a question: why are you here?"

Minho pushes Thomas so that he's a couple of steps to the front, as if telling him to speak up. "I, uh, we're here looking for our friend."

"Died young?"

"No. No, she's not dead. She, uh... It's complicated. But she's not dead; she didn't came here like that."

" _'She'_ , huh? Then I think this belongs to you."

As soon as she said that, another door opened and steps were heard. A guard led Teresa to the room and she came to a stop once she saw her friends. The guys all fell relief and happiness at seeing the raven girl alive and well.

"Teresa!"

"Thomas!"

They ran at each other and soon Thomas had his arms full of the raven girl, her soft hair right under his nose and her sweet coffee with a drop of vanilla scent filling his senses. He soon registered the rest of the gang approaching them and he let go of the girl so the other could hug her too. As Minho hugged her, Thomas turned to Eris,

"Thank you. Thank you so much, I-- I don't know what to say,"

"It appears so." she smirked, "My guards found her unconscious in the outsides of my castle." she turns her head slightly to "Where is her stuff?"

The guard that brought Teresa to the room approached the gang and held out the lantern. Teresa grabbed it and thanked the guard as he left.

Minho frowns in confusion, "Why did you have that?"

"A present?" she didn't knew how to explain the lantern.

The gang turned back to Eris, "Now that you are together again I think there isn't any other reason for you to be in my castle so-

"Actually-" Thomas interrupted her, "there might be." the woman raised an eyebrow as she examined him closely. Thomas turned to glance at the gang and then back at the woman. "You see, my friends and I came all the way to the Underworld to rescue our friend," he gestured Teresa, "but we don't have a way to go back. I was hoping that since you are the ruler of this place that... you might help us get out of here."

Her expression didn't change. Eris crossed her legs in a move that seemed like that famous scene from Basic Instinct. "I don't think you're getting this situation, young boy. I don't like doing charity. I just returned to you what was yours, that's all."

"But we don't-

"I don't have any interest in whatever you might say. You came here to get your friend back and you did it. If you don't have a plan to leave that's not of my business." she raised a hand and made a swift move of her wrist, "Guards, escort the gentlemen and the lady out of the castle."

Four new guards came to the room and went straight to the gang; they began to move and push at them to lead them to the door, ignoring their protests. Eris sat in her throne as she watches the guards take the gang out of the room, and soon, out of the castle. Once out of the castle -the guard had even accompanied them meters away from the castle- the gang had to walk away from it and walk in circles since they didn't know what to do now that they had Teresa.

"You came all the way here without a plan?!" was the first thing Teresa yelled once out of the castle.

Minho points at her, "Thank you!"

"Okay, can we all agree that I'm not the best one in having plans!" yells Thomas exasperated.

They sighed and decided to stop. There wasn't anywhere to go anyways. As Minho and Teresa sit on the ground, the Asian boy doesn't see a pointy rock just underneath where he's going to rest his hand and it ends up cutting his palm. He hisses in pain and looks at his palm, a little bit of blood coming out of it.

"Shit."

Teresa shrugs, "So what? It's just a tiny cut. Ask Newt to cure it. Or Aris."

"...Yeah, we can't. If we get hurt in here they can't heal it with magic."

"Not even a tiny cut?"

Minho shakes his head 'no'. Teresa lets out a sigh and looks around. Gally and Aris are standing close and looking around the place, and Thomas and Newt are doing the same.

"So what do we do?" the raven girl asks, "Are we just going to stay here for the rest of our lives or until something kill us?"

"Can we die if we're in the Underworld?" the Asian male asks.

"Yes. Technically we're still alive. Right?" she asks turning to Aris, who nods at her.

"We're alive in the Underworld. Which means that we can die as if we were in any other place." he answers.

"So this is it, huh?"

They all turn to Minho.

"I always imagined how my life would come to an end."

The tone in which he said it made Thomas feel as if he had swallowed rocks. He felt bad for his friend. For all of them. He had to fix this. He has to find a way out...

Wait a minute.

"I think I know a way out." he says, which causes five heads to turn to look at him.

 

* * *

 

"Thomas, are you sure?"

"It might be the only way."

The gang were following Thomas back to where they had found the man dressed in dark robes. He had told them he had a way to get out of the Underworld and they didn't lose anything to check on it. It took them an hour to go back to that place and once they arrived it was empty except for the broken building.

Minho shrugs, "Yeah, but we don't know this guy. He looked pretty creepy, just lurking around the shadows of the building."

"You sure it was here?" Teresa asks.

"Yes, it was here. He said he would be here." he looks around, "What was his name? ... _Elrik!_ "

_"Searching for me?"_

They all turned to the source of the voice and found the man leaning against a pillar, looking at a green apple in his hand. Elrik turns to them, throwing the apple over his shoulder.

"I see you found your friend. Kudos."

Thomas walks closer, "You said that you could help us get out of the Underworld. Was that the truth or were you just messing with us?"

_"Please,"_ he says as he was offended, "If there's anyone who can do that is me and my sister. But it seems that she didn't wanted to help you."

That's new information, and it has them blinking a few times in disbelief.

"Eris is your sister?" Thomas asks.

Minho is the next to speak, "The ruler of the Underworld is your sister?"

**_"I WAS THE RULER OF THE UNDERWORLD!"_** he yelled, a vein popping in his temple.

Aris, arms crossed, tilts his head a little as he asks "Then what is it that you want?"

Calming down from his outburst, Elrik explains, "You'll see... As I said, I used to be the ruler of the Underworld until my sister usurped the throne and banished me from the castle. I'm not even allowed to get my stuff from there, precious things. There's this... red ring. It used to belong to our mother, and she gave it to me before she died. It was my only valuable possession until my sister banished me."

"If you have powers why don't you go for it yourself?" Thomas asks.

Elrik shakes his head, "I can't get in her castle. She will know I'm there. There's a _'censor'_ if want to call it that way, that tells her when a non human person enters her castle. That's why you're going instead of me."

"But I'm not totally human. I'm a werewolf."

"Yeah, and that's where I was going. Listen, I think we can both get something out of this: I need you to give up on your powers, your werewolf powers obviously, for at least a couple of hours, don't worry. And then go to my sister's castle and take the big red ring away from her. And if you do that for me, I'll help you go back to your home. All of you. Safe and sound." he grins, showing his teeth. He then holds his hand out for the brunet to shake it, "So? Do we have a deal?"

Thomas stares at his hand, an eyebrow up in doubt. "How do I know that after you take my powers away you won't kill us or leave us here?"

Elrik grins, "Clever boy. Alright, fine. I'll give you that one. Your friends are safe, otherwise you get your powers right back. Yadda, yadda. Fine print. Boilerplate. Baboom. Okay? We're done." he holds his hand to Thomas again, "What do you say we shake on it?"

Thomas looked back at his friends and making a decision, he turns to Elrik and they join hands in a shake. As soon as his hand made contact with the man's hand, it felt like if his strength was being sucked out of his body; his muscles were hurting like he had run a marathon, his heart started beating faster than normal and it hurt. He opened his mouth but nothing came out of it; Elrik grinned at him and Thomas was kind of regretting this. His friends tried to move towards him but they stopped, knowing they couldn't do anything. He really did felt his werewolf powers being sucked out of his body and soon he felt a numbness in his body. Elrik let go of his hand and Thomas fell to his knees, fighting for air as if someone had punched him in the stomach. He managed to raise his head to see Elrik and the man grinned at him,

"Well, I think I must congratulate you. Usually people would pass out." he holds out a hand to help Thomas on his feet. The brunet accepts it and soon he's being pulled up on his feet again, but he feels different. Of course he feels different; he isn't a werewolf right now. "Now, why don't I tell you the plan?"

 

* * *

 

Waiting for the sky to get darker -but not too dark- and sneaking around the castle's area made Thomas' heart jump and wanting to escape from his body. Now without werewolf powers he couldn't hear if someone was close, or he couldn't catch a scent. He felt completely useless. He shook his head and tried to stop those thoughts; now was not the time. He made his way to the castle and looked around and saw no guards. Elrik told him that if he was already pretty close to the castle and no guards appears to take him, then it meant it works. Eris can't detect him because he's a plain human, not a supernatural creature. But he has to be careful cus inside the castle are plenty of guards and although they can't feel him, they can see him. Carefully he waited until one guard made his way from one end of the door to another to make his way and enter the castle without being seen. He avoided that guard but soon he saw the silhouette of another coming his way and he panicked. He hides behind a pillar as the guard walks pass him and into another room. Two other guards came behind him and disappeared in the other room too. Thomas let out a sigh in relief and continued. Elrik told him that the ring was in the third room on the second floor, which was Eris' room. But he told him that at this hour the Queen of the Underworld wasn't in her room. That managed to calm down Thomas -just a little.

Thomas went upstairs, looking around in case a guard -or worst- appeared. There was a big and long hall and Thomas was thankful that Elrik told him which room. He walked and counted the room and soon he was standing in front of a big and tall door, different from the others. Looking around, he slowly opened the door and peeked inside, making sure the room was empty. Once he secured the room he let himself inside it, and as he was inside he heard steps on the hall and getting closer to the room. Cursing under his breath, he grabbed the knob and started closing the door as carefully as he could. He heard and saw the shadows of three guards from underneath the door walking beside the door and disappearing. Maybe their routine or something. He sighed and let go of the knob and turned to the room. The room, even thought there was no much light except the one coming through the windows, was big; it had big and long curtains touching the ground half-covering the also big and long windows. There was a giant bed near the windows and the sheets had a wine color and they looked like they were made of satin. Did they had satin in the Underworld? Thomas shook his head and that thought away and continued with his mission. He approached the noir boudoir and stared at the jewelry box. Elrik had told him that his sister wouldn't put that ring in a jewelry box like if it were a common, worthless object.  He knows that he told him that, but would it be that bad if he searched there anyways? He opened the jewelry box and looked through the jewels and collars and stuff; he saw many colors but no red.

He huffed in defeat. Okay, so it wasn't on the jewelry box. He looks around the room and tries to think where she would put it. Turning back to the bed, his eyes fall on the nightstand beside the bed on its left side. He decides he didn't lose anything in searching through the jewelry box, so he can't lose anything searching through the nightstand or the bed. Thomas walks towards the nightstand and opens it. Inside there was a torn piece of dark clothe that didn't made sense to him. It was the only thing there. Turning to the bed, he moved his hand around the sheets -yep, definitely like satin- in hope the ring was hidden there. No luck. He tried in between the mattress and the backrest and nothing. His eyes went to the pillows and sure, why the hell not. He brought his hand underneath the first pillow and roamed it, but it was empty. Eyeing the second and last pillow, he did the same and roamed his hand underneath the pillow until his hand met a small object. He brought his hand out with the object in his fist and once he opened it he found a ring with a red stone. It didn't look that expensive and maybe it wasn't, but it this was what could get him and his friend out of here and back to Beacon Hills then it was enough.

Securing the ring inside his pocket, he goes to the door and opens it again but just barely so he can peek out again, but to his not such good luck he saw as three guards made their way to the room, and this time he means literally the room not just beside it. He panics again in knowing that once they enter and see him they're going to kill him or take the ring back, or something. He looks around at his possible escape routes and only finds the windows. Deciding it was better than nothing, he ran to the windows and opened one. He glanced down and saw that the fall was kind of risky if he didn't do it right or without his ability to heal. Not thinking it twice, he grabbed one of the curtains and got on top of the edge of the window, holding the curtain firmly in his hands. He exited through the window still holding the curtain.

The shadows were standing in front of the door and Thomas turned back to outside and started descending, using the curtain as a rope like when rappelling. He was halfway on his way to the ground when the curtain snapped in half and he found himself falling. Good thing was that it hadn't been that high. Bad thing it was that he fell to his side and a little bit above his hipbone. A wave of pain traveled from there to his whole body and he avoided yelping. He managed to stand on his feet and look up to the window. No signs of the guards. He quickly checked his pocket and the ring was still there in once piece. Managing to get his breath, he turned around and sneaked out of the castle's territory and made his way back to his friends. They were going home.

 

* * *

 

The gang and Elrik were waiting for Thomas to come back in the same spot they were when he left. They hear footsteps getting closer and stood in defense, but soon they relaxed when they saw Thomas jogging towards them. He jogged in a weird way because of the pain on his side from his fall. The brunet approached his friend and the man, and once he knew he was out of danger he let out a sigh and tried to catch his breath.

"You have it?" asked the dark haired man.

"Yes, I do." he takes the ring out of his side pocket and shows it to Elrik.

The other man takes it and holding it with one hand he admires it. "Oh, marvelous. How much have I waited for this moment... With this ring in my power, now I can finally rule the Underworld."

Thomas blinks a few times, not sure what he was hearing.

"What?"

Elrik turns to look at him like he didn't cared he had said that aloud. "Didn't I told you? This ring is a relic and has a special use. Whoever uses it, will be able to rule the Underworld whatever they like to."

Wait.

Thomas takes a step back, "But you said-

"I needed you to steal it from my sister. I couldn't get into her castle without being detected, but you? Without your werewolf powers?" he snorts, "Piece of cake."

"That's what you wanted all this time? Your sister's throne?"

"What was rightfully _mine_! The throne, the power, the Underworld, they all should belong to me and only me!"

With those words that's when Thomas realized something.

"You were never the ruler of the Underworld, weren't you?"

Elrik grinned, "Clever boy. They should give you a medal, or a treat like a dog." he chuckled as he putted the ring on his finger, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a kingdom to rule. But first..." he turns to them, eyes looking dangerous, "I'm afraid that I can't have you trying to interfere with my plans, so I don't have any other choice but to kill you. Lucky you are already here at the Underworld; I just saved you the trip. Now," he puts his arms at his sides and his claws get larger and thicker and the sky seemed to get darker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me for the end of the chapter!! See you till next Friday (13th).


	12. Souls of the Departed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter comes the end of Season 1 of "Howling in the Moonlight", but don't worry! It doesn't mean the end of the fic at all! I'll continue with the next season and so~  
> I want to thank everyone who read this first part of the series! Thank you! Merci! Danke schön! Muchas gracias! Bolshoe spasibo! and well, you get the idea ;)  
> I hope to see you on the next part (Season 2) too!! Meanwhile I'll leave you the final chapter! Enjoy!

It's like a scene from one of those drama/action movies where everything plays in slow motion. The gang is still in the same places they were before Elrik revealed his true nature. The man is standing a few steps away from Thomas, arms at his sides and big claws out, looking dangerous. He's standing there looking ready to kill anyone and Thomas can't move. Literally, he can't find the strength to move. Fear, maybe? Impotence, perhaps? Maybe even resignation. Thomas thinks it may be that. The dictionary defines 'resignation' like either stepping down from a job or accepting an unpleasant but inevitable situation. This was certainly an unpleasant but inevitable situation. And it was all Thomas' fault. Maybe that's why he can't move. But his friends are far from over.

Gally is swinging his sword at Elrik but the man avoids it without effort. Just as the tall sandy blond recovers his stance, ready to swing his sword again, a hand literally stops his sword before he can attack. They're staring at each other, the sandy blond one with disbelief mixed with surprise. Elrik grins at him and then makes a move with his head that -with his powers- sends Gally flying away from him and hard onto the ground. Although the man is grinning with satisfaction, he soon frowns when he feels something around his ankle, so he looks down; around his ankle was a green rope made by magic. His eyes follow the extension of the rope until it ends where Aris is standing and it's the witch's turn to grin as he sends an electric current through the rope and towards Elrik. The man in black soon finds himself being electrocuted.

Nothing good lasts forever, right? Still being electrocuted, Elrik manages to grab the rope and removes it from around his ankle, but instead of throwing it away from him so the electricity stops he looks at Aris and smirks back. Aris' smile falls. He had turned the tables on them. Elrik used his powers and made the electric current go back to Aris, electrocuting the lighter brunet witch; Aris starts yelling in pain as the electricity travels all around his body. Thomas doesn't know if it's for the pain or for the magic, but Aris can't seem to let go of the rope. Still lying on the ground, Gally throws a medium sized sword at Minho, who catches it and runs to where Aris is and cuts the rope with a swing, finishing with the lighter brunet witch's torture; the witch falls to the ground, curling in pain with Minho at his side. Newt is still standing in front of Teresa in case they were next, and he needs to protect both of them.

Thomas wants to run to where Newt is and protect him. _Protect everyone_. Just as Thomas turns his head to the front he finds Elrik already standing there, a fist punching him on the face to make him lose balance; the man then grabs him by the collar of his shirt, holding him up until his feet are no longer touching the ground. Thomas tries to make him let go but he was far stronger than him right now. No werewolf strength. With a side of his face stinging, Thomas manages to turn and look at the man holding him up and cutting off his air. He was grinning at Thomas, like he knew there was no escape for him. His eyes were dark, no mercy on them. Shit. Was he going to die? Like this? Right now?

In that moment Elrik's expression changes into one with pain as the hand which he's using to hold Thomas starts emitting smoke and he lets go of Thomas, throwing him away and bringing his hand closer to himself. Thomas watches as the man clutches his hand in pain and then raises it to look at it. His hand had been branded; it was shining an angry red, like if he had grabbed a heated metal and burned with it. Thomas frowns and he looks at his shirt, and then proceeds to take out by the ball chain his dog tag with the inscription: **_'To Thine Own Self Be True'_** , that was shining like a heated metal but didn't burned him. Minho's gift.

Elrik glares at him, still holding his hand. "You little...! I'll make you pay for this!" and with that he disappeared in a black cloud of smoke.

After they were sure he was really gone, Minho -helping Aris to his feet-, Gally supporting himself with his sword, Teresa and Newt -unharmed- ran to Thomas' side to check on their friend.

"What happened?" asked Teresa.

Newt had a hand over Thomas' back as the brunet catch his breath, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I..." he coughs, "I don't- I don't know why but he let go of me. My... my..." he looks at his dog tag, "dog-tag, I think it hurt him. But why...?

"Easy. It's a protection charm." Aris says, wincing a little.

Thomas' eyes widen and he turns to his best friend. "You gave me a protection charm?!"

_"I did?!"_

"No, he didn't." adds Aris, "At least, not consciously. He gave you this as a gift for your birthday, right? It meant too much for both of you that the collar turned into a charm to protect you from any harm."

Everyone was stunned, especially the two best friends. Thomas turned to look back at the Asian male, who was staring back at him with his mouth open.

"Bro... I'm awesome."

Thomas let out a chuckle. All his gratefulness for his friend and the tranquility of this moment disappeared when he remembered where they were and what was happening. Elrik had attacked them. Elrik had escaped. Elrik was the bad guy and he now controlled the Underworld. They wouldn't be able to leave the Underworld and it was his entire fault.

He remembered the fight and his eyes widen as he turns to his friends. "Is everyone alright?! Aris! Are you okay?"

"Yeah... At least it didn't burn my skin off." he says closing and opening his hands.

He turns to the tall sandy blond, "Gally?"

"'m fine. Not the first time I'm thrown away and to the ground."

"Okay," starts speaking Newt, "Now that our ride back to Beacon Hills is no longer on the table, what are we gonna do now?"

"Hiding wouldn't be that bad." Aris says while shrugging.

"And what about the Underworld?"

"What about it?"

"Are we not going to do something about the fact that that psycho now has the power to control the bloody Underworld?"

"Are we going to talk about how that psycho could easily kill us all, a thing he has already tried, now that he has the power to control the _bloody_ Underworld?" he retorts to the Brit.

Minho raises his hand as if to interrupt, "See, I gotta be with Aris in this one. I don't wanna die."

In all that time as they spoke, Thomas didn't move. He didn't try to speak or to agree with any of them. It was like he was in another place, thinking about how all of this was his fault. They were gonna stay here forever or worst... They were gonna die, and it was all on him.

"Okay, okay! Let's not panic, yes? What we need is a plan, don't we, Thomas?" Minho turns to the brunet, "Thomas?"

"No." it's what comes out of Thomas' mouth and with that he starts walking away from his friends.

"Thomas-

The brunet turns to them, holding a hand up to stop them, "No, _just_...! Leave me alone!" and continues walking, this time his fiends staying where they were. They all see as Thomas walks way, clearly mad or confused at something. They decide not to pressure him. He just needs some time alone... they hope.

 

* * *

 

Thomas doesn't know how much time has passed since he walked away from his friends to be left alone. Yeah, sure, he didn't leave per se as the gang were a few meters away from where he was sitting, but he had put distance between them. He was sitting with his elbows on his knees, staring at his hands which were hanging between his pulled up legs. Even without his werewolf powers, he hears steps getting closer to him and stopping right behind him.

"I'm not in the mood, Minho."

"It's not Minho." Newt's voice says, which makes the brunet to look up at the blond witch.

The Brit moves from behind him and sits beside him, just centimeters away, legs pulled up to mimic Thomas' posture. He doesn't say anything, he just stares at the brunet.

"Wanna talk?"

Thomas turns his attention to his hands, "I... I just..."

"Just what?"

"...I screw up everything I do."

"That's not true, Thomas."

"It is! If it weren't for me trusting Elrik, we wouldn't be in this situation. If it weren't for me, we all wouldn't be in the Underworld. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be involved in this... supernatural stuff. I just keep making mistakes by mistakes, and it affects everyone around me."

Newt doesn't say anything. Doesn't tell him he's wrong or something to make him feel better. Maybe he doesn't have anything to tell Thomas. It hurts, to be sincere. It hurts to know that the words that left his mouth are true, and that there's nothing they can say to Thomas to tell him he's wrong. That it isn't his fault; because it is. But then Newt opens his mouth, a determined look in his eyes, and says,

"You're human, right? And I'm not talking as in right now because you don't have your werewolf powers; I'm talking about all the time. You're human, okay? And humans make mistakes. But the good thing about being human and making mistakes is that you can learn from them. Even if you're a werewolf you're human too. Never forget that."

Thomas doesn't know what to say. Something moves inside his chest at Newt's words. At the way those chocolate eyes were staring at him with such honesty, such fervor that made Thomas think that nothing else mattered right now. He is, whoever, brought out of his thoughts when the pain from his hipbone makes him wince and he remember his wound from falling from the window. He had totally forgotten about that one.

Newt looks at him and at the hand he brings to his side, "You're hurting."

"It's nothing."

"Let me see."

"Newt, it-

"I said let me see it."

Thomas sighs, knowing that the blond wouldn't leave it alone; he raised his shirt a little to show his side to Newt, and there over his hipbone was an big ugly purple bruise. At least it wasn't bleeding or something like that. One of Newt's hands go to hover over the wound, but doesn't touch it since he doesn't want to hurt Thomas. It just stays there.

"I can't heal it." he says to Thomas.

"I know."

"But once we get back to Beacon Hills I will."

Newt then moves to stand up, dusting off his jeans and Thomas follows. He noticed that the blond didn't said _'if'_ , and that makes him want to believe it's true. They will get back to Beacon Hills. They walk back to where the gang is sitting on the ground, and as soon as they are noticed by the others, they stand up and approach Thomas and Newt. Thomas glances at the Brit and then back at the gang,

"I think I know what we need to do... But I don't know if it will work out. There's a chance it will, but I can't guarantee anything."

"Whatever it is, if there's a possibility of success, I'm in." Minho says. The others nod too, telling him they're on board.

"What is it?" Teresa asks.

Thomas opens his mouth and he looks a little worried, "You're not going to like it."

 

* * *

 

Once they enter the castle for a second time, four guards escorting them to the same room they had been taken the last time, Thomas starts thinking that maybe this was a bad idea. I mean, what was he doing? Coming to ask the ruler of the Underworld for help after he entered her castle, stole something and then gave it to her brother so he could rule the Underworld? She was going to have them killed once she sees them.

They get to the throne room and Eris is already there, sitting elegant as always on her throne and looking at them. The four guards don't move from behind them. The ruler's eyes fall onto Thomas,

"Well, either you are an idiot or you sure have a lot of balls to come here after stealing from me."

"I think it's the first one, ma'am." Minho says, but Teresa nudges him to keep quiet.

"Now tell me, why did you came here and why is it keeping me from getting you arrested or killed?"

"Because we can help you defeat Elrik." answers Thomas.

She raises an eyebrow, "Oh, really? And what can two witches and three- no, four humans can do?"

"Listen, we might not look like that much, but we want that nutjob out of the way as such as you do." Eris turns to look at him, and Minho pales, "...your majesty." he adds.

"We're offering our help; we risked our lives only coming to your castle to tell you this. Doesn't that mean how much serious are we?"

Eris seems to be thinking about it. That or she's thinking in horrible ways how they should be punished. Thomas shudders at that thought.

"Alright."

They all seem to be surprised by the answer. They weren't expecting it to be that easy. Did she actually say _'alright'_?

"What?"

"If you want to offer your services to defeat Elrik, even though you aren't that qualified and will most likely die, I accept. The more the merrier, isn't that right?" she says with a grin, but not a wicked one. "In fact... if you help me defeat my brother I'll owe you." she says joining her hands and still grinning.

One thing was that the ruler of the Underworld was accepting joining forces with them, but other was that she was saying she would owe him. That was a good thing, right? Thomas glanced behind him at his friends; they nodded at him and he nodded back. He turned to look back at Eris and with a nod of his head he said they agreed. The dark haired woman's smile didn't wavered, but her eyes did shined. Like if she liked that they had agreed.

"Alright then. What's the plan?"

And for the first time since they had arrived, Thomas did had a plan.

 

* * *

 

They had agreed to take some of Eris' guards to help them overcome Elrik. The ruler of the Underworld gave them black horses with armors so they could go to where Elrik was, instead of using magic. She knew that his brother wouldn't be alone; he would have company and they would be waiting for them to tear them apart. As everyone were checking twice the plan, Eris took him somewhere private and given him a golden dagger and told him they had to stab Elrik through the heart with it. That was the only way to get rid of him.

Minho and Teresa weren't going to fight as they didn't have any weapon nor couldn't defend themselves if Elrik attacked them. Not that they were weak, but they were much more vulnerable than Newt and Aris with their magic. Even Thomas since he didn't had his werewolf powers. But he had to use the dagger in Elrik even if that cost him his life. He was going to take his friends out of the Underworld, whether he was going too or not.

As they were waiting for everyone to gather around, Thomas was petting the horse he was going to be riding soon when Minho approached him. He didn't looked at him, he just turned to Thomas' horse and pet him too.

"So this is it, huh?"

"Yeah,"

"We're off to face the bad guy."

"Yeah,"

Minho nods but doesn't say anything else. Thomas glances at him but doesn't say anything either. "Okay, then." he turns around as if he's going to leave, so Thomas goes after him.

"Min-

The Asian male is quick on his step as he turns around, cutting the brunet off as he says "I just want you to know that if we don't make it back that you were totally, completely, and eternally my best friend. There, I said it!"

Thomas is startled for a moment before smiles at him, "You're my best friend too."

"And I broke your iPod."

They stare at each other before they break in laughter. God, only his best friend can turn a live or death situation into an emotional one and then into a joke. But he's glad he did it. They needed that. He pats his best friend on the back and he does the same.

They gathered around and soon they were going to Elrik's place. The skeleton-covered-in-pieces-of-skin guards of Eris riding their horses with swords on their sides. Thomas' side stings a little, but he decided to ignore it. Once they defeated Elrik and were back to Beacon Hills he would be healed. They continued their path when Minho heard something and looked around.

"Did you hear that?" asked Minho.

"What?"

"I don't know. It sounds... familiar."

"Familiar good or familiar bad?" Teresa asks.

The sound is heard again but this time aloud and Minho stills, turning his head to his friends with a terrified face,

"Familiar bad."

Soon the ground started trembling, but not as if an earthquake was happening. More like... something was coming. They all saw as a cloud of dust appeared at the end of their line of sight and then some figures appeared. But it wasn't Elrik. Oh no. It was the three-headed creature that looked like a star-nosed mole with fleshy appendages that were supposed to be their mouth. It was approaching them, running at all its might towards them.

"Oh no. Those?!" groans Teresa. "He controls those?!"

"It seems so." answers Aris.

"So what now?"

The gang turns to Thomas. The brunet werewolf turns back at them with decision.

"We fight."

They nod and the guards follow them as they ride towards the creatures, taking out their weapons. The first creature launches at one guard, throwing him off the horse and to the ground. The guard swings his sword but he misses and the creature bites him on the head. After that it pretty much followed a mix between the creatures throwing the guards off the horses and attacking them, and the guards successfully killing them. The gang had climb off the horses to be able to fight better. Gally had a sword on each hand and swung them over his head and at the creatures, cutting the legs of one and the head of another. But they were three heads! Minho was side to side with Gally, so when Gally cut off one or two heads, the Asian male finished the other one. Aris made several fireballs and threw them to the creatures, catching them on fire. Newt stayed close to Teresa and every time a creature approached them he sent it flying away. Even when Thomas didn't had his werewolf powers he could still fight. That's what he thought, at least. Gally had given him a sword and he was trying to keep the creatures away from his friends.

_"Thomas!"_

The brunet werewolf turned to the source of the voice -Gally. The tall sandy blond fights a creature off and puts his sword in front of him to stop the creature for grabbing his face. With both of his hands busy, he points with his head at the other side,

"They came from that direction! That's where Elrik must be! You gotta go!"

"I'm not leaving you guys!"

"You have the dagger! You have to go now before more of these things appear. Go! We're right behind you!"

Thomas wanted to stay and fight along his friends but he knew Gally was right. Securing the dagger in his jeans, he started running away from the chaos in search for a horse. Most of the horses were gone, either dead or had ran away. There were some left, tho. Thomas saw one near a half demolished building-structure and he ran towards it, but before he could reach it he was struck by an incredible force that threw Thomas towards a wall. The air left his lungs like he had been hit with a sucker punch, and he fell to the ground. After collapsing to the ground, he raised his head to see one of the creatures standing a few meters away from him.

_'That must be the thing that hit me.'_ Thomas thought.

The creature let out a high-pitch snarl and ran towards him, its fleshy tentacles moving in the air. Knowing that it was going directly at him, Thomas' eyes widen and he quickly moves away from the wall so that the creature crashes against it. Taking the chance of it being distracted, Thomas looked around for the sword he had been carrying and most probably went flying after the creature hit him. But more important... Where was the horse?! _Shit!_

As Thomas looked around for the horse -and the sword-, he didn't see when the creature compose itself and ran towards him until it was throwing and pinning him to the ground. Its fleshy appendages were trying to get to his face but Thomas continued to keep him away from it using his arms and turning his head to his side. The creature snarled again and Thomas started feeling the weight above him and his arms trembling as they couldn't keep it away from him for much longer. That's when he saw it. His sword was lying just centimeters away from him on the ground. But he couldn't grab it without risking the creature to attack him. He cursed and looked back at the creature. Taking the only chance he had, he managed to push harder at the creature until it was away from him, just enough for him to grab the sword and pierce the creature with it.

The creature squirmed in pain and then stopped moving, letting all its weight impale it on the sword. Thomas took the sword out of the dead creature and threw the sword away. He let out a sigh of both relief and fear. That had been too close. His legs were trembling from the adrenaline and fear. He was still too hyper that he didn't hear the 'crack' sound of something breaking and about to fall.

"THOMAS, WATCH OUT!"

Thomas didn't have time to register anything else after that. It had been too fast. He was just turning to where the voice came from. The next thing that happened was that he felt something warm pushing him against his back and throwing him far away from the apparently wall that was falling where he used to be -the wall where the creature had crashed-; and instead of falling on the hard ground, something cushioned his fall, and then a big cloud of dust appeared over where the wall had fallen. Thomas coughed as the dust dissipated. He was now over the ground, the thing that had cushioned his fall had apparently disappeared like... magic. So it had been magic after all, huh? And that voice... It had been Newt's! The blond witch just saved his life! But where was-- He looked around and found no sight of the blond. Once the cloud of dust dissipated, Thomas turned his head back and his blood ran cold. His heart stopped in that instant.

Right over where he had been standing and where the wall had fallen, Newt was lying on the ground completely still, one arm stretched out -the one he used to make a forcefield to cushion Thomas' fall-, face down on the ground and messy hair; a big piece of wall was on top of him and covering half his body.

No.

Thomas didn't even registered he was standing up and running towards the witch, he just did. His whole body was screaming at him not to move; it hurt like a bitch. But right now he didn't cared if his arms tore open, or if he broke his tendons or something. Once he reached the witch, he tries to take the wall up and away from him but he can't. Not without his werewolf strength. He shakes his head and his thoughts and tries it again. He grabs the sides of the wall and tries to pull it up, his arms trembling because of the weight, feet trying to double over and give out, but he wasn't backing down. Closing his eyes, he gripped the wall harder and doesn't notice the claws that appear instead of his fingernails, clawing at the wall. He can feel adrenaline pumping all over his body, can actually feel it. Like if it was poison and it was spreading across his body. It ached. He opens his eyes and they glow yellow; he opens his mouth to shout as he raises the wall, fangs appearing.

Thomas manages to raise the wall up and was surprised that he had managed to do it. He was about to question himself when he remembered Elrik's words:

 

_'Your friends are safe, otherwise you get your powers right back.'_

 

Thomas girths his teeth and throws the wall away from them. The rest of the gang runs towards them but they stay at a safe distance, looking at their two friends. Thomas sighs and then proceeds to kneel beside the blond. He's so glad he can still hear his heart beating.

"Newt." he gently turns Newt around, who coughs as he's turned and lying face up, a trail of blood coming out of his mouth and dripping to his chin. Thomas raises his hand and wipes it, not wanting to see blood on the blond. "Newt, you're... you..." he tries to calm down, to be able to say a sentence but he can only watch the boy beneath him having difficulty to breath. "Newt, why... why... why did ya... You didn't have to..."

Newt manages to smile, blood over his teeth, "Talking wasn't a-always one of your best qualities, you know?"

Thomas snorts but his face is showing his worry. He registered that their friends are close, just a few steps away from them and he want to yell at Aris to come over here and use his magic but he remembers that Aris told them that their magic wouldn't be able to heal any wound. Including this one. Newt wouldn't heal. He feels a hand touching his cheek and turns to look at the blond's face, who is staring right at him,

"It's okay, it's okay. Yo-you have to defeat Elrik..."

Aris approaches them and kneels beside Newt, resting the blond's head over the nearest comfortable rock he could find, "We'll watch over him, Thomas." the brunet raised his head to look at Aris, who nodded at him, "Go."

Thomas looks back at Newt, staring at him and deciding to go, "You're gonna be all right, Newt." he says leaning forward, his forehead touching Newt's while closing his eyes, "I promise."

With that, Thomas, Minho and Gally went to the still safe horses and climbed them, not losing any more time and riding to where Elrik was, leaving their friends behind to take care of the blond witch and of themselves.

 

* * *

 

They got to where Elrik was, it wasn't like the buildings in ruins where they came from. Although there weren't walls there were some pillars around, separating the place to make it look like it had dimensions. High at the distance on the back there was a -like in his sister's castle- huge black onyx throne decorated with many skulls with stairs on the front to get access to it, and a river -not like the one they had crossed to get here; a harmless one- flowing around the place, surrounding it.

The three guys hop off the horses and looked around the place. It was empty. Elrik was nowhere in sight, but Thomas knew better.

"Elrik! Show yourself! I know you're here!"

"No need to yell, pup."

The three of them turned to where the voice came and found Elrik already sitting on his throne, legs thrown up on the armrests, and his body sideways, turned to face them. Thomas growled at him, his eyes glowing yellow.

Elrik grinned, "Oh~ I like that color on your eyes. Tell me, who was the lucky one to give you back your powers?" he said with such an amused tone in his voice that Thomas wanted to rip his throat out. "Let me guess... It was the blond witch, am I right?"

Thomas growled again, claws out at his sides which made Elrik smirk more.

" _Bingo._ Well, I should tell you that his time is running out. I can feel it. Why don't you go and spend his last minutes with him?"

"That's not going to happen."

He gets up from his throne "Ah, denial. That's so sweet." and starts climbing down the stairs, "Well, at least you won't have to tell his family that it was your fault he died so young. You know, since you and your friends are staying here forever."

"Not a chance in hell." Gally said.

After that, Thomas ran towards him, claws out and ready. But before he could reach him, Elrik disappeared in thin air and re-appeared a few steps away. Thomas growled and launched at him again, this time almost touching him but again too late. He re-appeared behind Gally and Minho, but the tall sandy blond was fast enough to spun around and hit him with his sword, although it was just a scratch. Elrik threw at them fireballs, but the two guys deflected them with their swords. As they were busy with that, Thomas sprang towards him but found himself being restricted by something around his ankles. He looked down and saw two ropes made of magic holding him to the ground. He looked up back at his friends. Gally and Minho continued deflecting the fireballs, but Elrik then changed the fireballs to a thunderbolt. He grinned as he threw it at them; Gally pushed Minho aside and used his sword to absorb the thunderbolt, but another was thrown at his feet and he was down to the ground in seconds. After releasing himself from the ropes, Thomas sprang forward, stabbing Elrik in the back with the dagger Eris gave him before being tossed aside to where Minho was. For a moment Thomas thought that it might have work, but when Elrik turned around to glare at him and not dying on the moment he knew that it wasn't the case. Thomas barely had time to move towards his friend as Elrik, reaching behind him and pulling the dagger out, cried out in rage and tossed the dagger at them.

"LOOK OUT!" Thomas screamed as he tackled his best friend to the ground, both diving forward as the dagger swung past them before crashing into a pillar and snapping in half.

Elrik jumped down to stand beside them and quickly slammed his fist into Thomas' throat, cutting his air for a moment to send Thomas tumbling to the ground.

"Hey!" Minho cried out, rushing towards him as the other spun around, pulling his fist up and slamming it into Elrik's face before he could make a move. As the dark clothed man bent down, Minho pulled his leg up into his stomach, only to be held in place as Elrik latched his arms around it and pushed him back into one of the pillars, slamming him against it.

"Minho!" Thomas ran towards them.

Elrik turned to look as the other ran towards him. He slammed Minho's head against the pillar once and successfully knocked the Asian male out. He then faced Thomas and sent him flying with his magic, only to be almost cut by Gally's sword. He almost forgot about him. The tall blond swung his sword and then he had two swords, one in each hand and attacked again. Elrik easily and almost effortless avoided his attacks. He disappeared again and re-appeared behind Gally and with a swift of his hand Gally found his left feet stuck in the ground. He raised his arm to swing one of his swords but Elrik kicked it away. Before he could do anything else to Gally, Thomas ran and latched himself at Elrik's back, his claws over the dark-haired man's face. The man cried out in pain as Thomas buried his claws in his face, and almost near his eyes.

Elrik started trashing around with Thomas still on his back as Gally tried to get his foot free from the ground. Thomas didn't know what else to do but this. His claws were drawing blood from Elrik's face. Then, the dark-haired man took hold of Thomas' hand and with incredible strength he pulled him away from his back and threw him to the ground. Thomas quickly got up on his feet and sprang towards Elrik once more. Minho started coming around, blinking and trying to focus on the scene playing a few meters away from him. Thomas and Elrik continued with their fight, but the dark-haired man seemed to have the upper hand. Elrik's magic was too much for him. Thomas clawed at him once more but found himself thrown to the ground by a magic sphere. In the meanwhile, Gally managed to get free and quickly turned away from the fight. Nobody notices as Minho plunges into the small river and that the blade of the dagger was missing, the hilt left behind on the ground.

Thomas tried to get up but it kicked on the stomach by Elrik, the kick being so hard that it slide him back until he hit the stairs. The brunet coughed as he again tried to stand up, spitting blood on the ground as he got up on his feet. Turning fast to where Minho used to be, Thomas looked to see that only one piece, the hilt, remained there. Something inside his head told him what was going on and he grabbed the hilt from the ground and secured it into his jeans.

"Divide and conquer." he said to himself before turning around to where the tall blond was and yelling "Gally! Let's finish with this bastard!"

Gally grinned and nodded; he holds his right arm to his side and invokes his big ass sword, swinging it with one hand before running towards Elrik. The man notices him and throws at him a fireball, which Gally deflects with his sword as he keeps running. More fireballs were thrown at him and he deflected every one of them. Once he was near enough to Elrik, Gally swung his sword at him but the other disappeared in front of his eyes and before he had any time to react he reappeared behind him. Elrik raised two hands and with his hands glowing a purple color, he threw Gally meters away, falling near the stairs. Thomas doesn't waste time as he runs to Elrik but the other saw him coming and making a rope with magic he wraps it around Thomas' legs, binding them together as he swings him around the air and throws him to the opposite direction where Gally had been thrown.

Thomas coughs and winces since he landed on his bad side. They couldn't get near him if he continued using his powers. They needed him to stop using them so he could get closer. But how...? Wiping the sweat from his upper lip while standing up, something occurred to Thomas and he yelled

"Enough of tricks! Where's your honor?" he stands in a fighting position, fists up in front of himself, "Fight like a man."

Elrik grins at him like a maniac but he raises both hands up too, beckoning at Thomas to attack him with all he has. Thomas doesn't hesitate and in seconds he's running towards the man, launching a punch to his side but the dark haired man avoids it, instead Elrik landing a certain punch at his stomach.

As Gally recovers from the last attack, he looks at Thomas and Elrik fight hand-to-hand. Why did Thomas had challenged him into a hand-to-hand combat? Sure, he now had his werewolf powers back and he might be stronger with them, but still. He didn't understand. Not until he looked to the water that flowed at the sides of the stairs and saw as Minho carefully rose out of it, the other half of the dagger in his hand, and made his way to the back of the stairs. He now understood the two best friend's plan. He turned back to look as Thomas rammed his knee into Elrik's stomach before punching him back once more.

The dark-haired man recovered quickly and punched Thomas' face, then grabbed his arm to hold him still as he punched again and again the brunet's face with his fist. He then changed it with his elbow. On the second blow, Thomas held his arm and made his move to Elrik's side. As Elrik received the punch, Thomas managed to hold him and head-butt him, making Elrik to take some steps back, getting closer to the stairs. He repeated the same move and then rammed his knee into Elrik's stomach. Thomas pulled back and reaching into his jeans, pulled the hilt forth and springing forward to stab. Quickly, the dark clothed man grabbed his arm and twisted it away, snapping the bone in Thomas' arm. The brunet yelled, but didn't let go of the hilt.

As they were fighting for dominance, Minho sprang forth from the top of the stairs, falling down fast with the blade of the dagger in his hands and pierced Elrik's back. Ignoring the pain that shoot through his arm, Thomas pushed forward and is able to plunge the hilt into Elrik's chest, going right through his heart, which made the two halves melt into one. Elrik's eyes widen in realization as he looks down at the hilt, mouth hanging open.

Thomas takes a step back as Elrik takes out the dagger... the now whole dagger and stares at it before it clanks on the ground. He falls to the ground convulsing, clutching at his chest that was turning red like a hot burning flame. A dark aura surrounded him and he fell on his back to the ground, staring at the sky as he started to succumb to his wound. Minho and Gally stayed behind as Thomas approached him, staring down at the man as he took elaborated breaths. Elrik's eyes followed his moves and once Thomas stopped and just stared at him, he opened his mouth but nothing came out. He did it again and this time he managed to speak,

"I-I... I may be done, but at least I'm not the only one falling. I hope you get there on time to watch him go... Your blond witch friend."

With that, he stills and soon his body turns into black smoke and dissipates in the air. They should be celebrating that he's gone now but a bell rings in Thomas' head at Elrik's words and a name comes out of his mouth,

"Newt."

 

* * *

 

Aris is still kneeled beside the blond, holding his hand for support. He can't do anything else. Not right now. His magic is useless. Teresa is standing beside them with a sword in hand, looking around in case something comes to attack them.

Thomas and the other two are riding the horses as fast as they can. Thomas feels something moving inside his chest; he feels several emotions going through him. _Fear. Impatience. Sadness._ He shakes them away and hits the horse to go faster.

Newt feels his eyes getting heavy and he tries to keep them open 'till Thomas comes back. The sky and everything else starts getting dark as he lets out his last breath and soon his head falls to the side, eyes closed and his hand falls limp on Aris' grasp. Aris looks at Teresa with wide eyes, who looks back at him with her mouth hanging open.

Finally, the horses arrive at where the rest of the gang were and Thomas practically jumps off the horse and towards the others, not bothering to look back or anywhere else. He's running to them, the cold air hitting his face and making his shiver but he doesn't stops. He's a couple of meters away when he stops in his tracks as he sees the scene in front of him.

"Newt."

Aris and Teresa both look up, staring at him. He sees as the lighter brunet shakes his head softly with his eyes closed and Teresa looking away, her hands turned into fists. Thomas felt his heart being ripped out. Walking towards them, he falls to his knees and observes as Aris lays Newt's lifeless hand over the ground and stands up, leaving him and the blond on the ground. Thomas looks over Newt's body and face, slowly reaching a hand to touch his face, caress his soft hair. Color had been drained from his skin. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Only that he didn't have pulse or breathed.

"Newt, _no--_ "

The rest of his friends just stand there and stare as Thomas grabs the fragile body and brings it forward until he's hugging the blond; that's when he bursts into tears. He hugged harder the body, hiding his face over the blond's neck, tears streaming down his face as he did so. Minho closed his eyes as he bowed his head, hands made fists. Teresa covers her mouth with both hands, tears going down her cheeks and shoulders shaking. Aris just stares at them without moving, just a single tear going down his cheek while Gally buries his sword in front of him and holds the pommel with both hands, bowing his head in respect.

This was all his fault. If he wouldn't... If he hadn't trusted Elrik. If he hadn't make them come to the Underworld. If he hadn't talk to him on his first day, Newt wouldn't... He...

He wants to stay here and continue crying over his loss -everyone's loss- but then he remembers something that calms him for a moment. He barely registers someone standing beside him, a hand resting in comfort over his shoulder. Minho, his nose tells him.

"I'm sorry, buddy. There are some things you just can't change."

Still hugging Newt's body, Thomas slowly raises his head to look at the front with a feral look, his eyes glowing golden and fangs showing from his mouth.

"Yes, I can."

 

* * *

 

Eris was sitting on her throne, looking at the red ring on her finger. After Elrik's death, her ring re-appeared on her possession; that's how she knew they succeeded. She was admiring her ring and looking at her claws when she felt disturbance in the castle. Slowly and uninterested, she turned her head to the big doors as they trembled with whatever thing was approaching. Then there was a complete silence. Maybe her guards took care of it. As she looked back at her hands, the doors burst open, falling in pieces at the ground, together with four guards who were now unconscious. Entering the room was Thomas, looking at her as his eyes glowed golden and his claws were out.

Eris grinned, "You are a fierce one, aren't you?"

"I'm not in the mood." he said in a growl, making his way to her, avoiding the unconscious guards on the floor.

"Oh, I know. I can see all deaths."

"Newt's soul. _Give. It. To. Me_." he demands.

She snorts, "What makes you think I will give it to you?"

"You said you owed me."

"Yes. But I can't just go around and giving free souls to everyone. It goes against my oath."

Thomas looks down at the floor. So this was it? That's all? Newt was gone and he couldn't do anything about it. This was all his fault after all: If he hadn't trusted Elrik, they wouldn't have had to fight him. If he hadn't told them to accompany him to the Underworld, Newt wouldn't have been in danger. If he hadn't spoken to Newt on his first day, they would've probably never met and he would be safe and sound. He makes his hands into fists, claws digging against his palm.

"As I said..."

Thomas raises his head after Eris spoke again; she was looking at the side, like she didn't want to look directly at him.

"I can't give you his soul." she turns to him, "But I can help you get it."

Thomas frowned, "How? You just said-"

"That I can't give it to you, yes. But that doesn't mean you can get it by yourself." she grins when his eyes widen with hope. "Come on. Follow me." she raises form her throne and Thomas follows her to another room. Once they cross the door, the brunet werewolf finds himself in a room filled with tall bookshelves with orbs on them. They all looked the same and there were tons of them. "Listen up. His soul is here. Somewhere between all of these souls. If you find it, I'll let you leave with his soul; that way we'll be even."

"I just have to find it?"

"You just have to find it."

Thomas stays still for a moment, thinking about it. Hoping he's taking the right choice, he nods, "Okay. I'll do it." he turns his back at her, looking at all the shelves with orbs on them.

"One more thing." she called behind him, "Yes, you'll have the chance to find your friend's soul. But I must warn you: if you pick the wrong one, there's no second chance."

Thomas felt like someone had cut on his stomach and then inserted wolfsbane in the wound. If he got it wrong, Newt would stay dead. Forever. He couldn't even spend 5 minutes without him by his side at this moment, much less think about how life would be without him.

It wouldn't be life.

Shaking his head and his thoughts away, he took some air and started by the first shelf. When he finished with it, he moved to the next one but it was futile; they all looked the same. _'How the hell am I supposed to know which one is Newt's?'_

As he went to the next column, something caught his attention. _A scent._ Turning his head to the next row, he sniffed until he found the shelf where the smell came from. All the orbs looked the same but one definitely smelled different. The scent was a little bit sweet, sort of spicy...

A bell rang in Thomas' head.

_'Cinnamon! Of course! That's Newt's scent.'_

He followed the scent to the orb that suddenly, it changed into another color. It had a bright kind of cyan color ([x](http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/harrypotter/images/d/d6/Tumblr_n3tvwu4oPP1snil4go6_r1_250.gif/revision/latest?cb=20140518231857)); it shined brightly as his hand got closer to it. He picks it and stares at it, liking how it felt warm and comforting. Nodding to himself he turned around, facing Eris. He swallows hard, begging to God that he was right.

"This is."

"Are you sure?" she asks.

"Completely."

Eris grins at him, but not an evil grin. "Alright, boy. You may leave now." the brunet werewolf nods and turns to the other way, ready to run back to his friends, "Thomas." she calls again. Thomas stops and turns to her, "Treasure the years that are to come with your pack, and I say this in the best way: I hope I don't see you again soon."

Thomas nods. He hopes so too.

 

* * *

 

After leaving Eris' castle, Thomas got back to where the gang were. All bruised and tired, his feet not wanting to hold him up any longer and his side now sure as hell was bleeding but he didn't care. There were more important things to do. He continued walking with the orb on hand. His friends -his pack- look at him as he approaches Newt's lifeless body, not saying a word or moving at all; just staring. Thomas kneels at one side of Newt's body and holds out the orb.

_'Please let this work.'_

The orb starts shining and even though he doesn't know what to do, Thomas feels that he has to let go of it, so he does. The orb doesn't fall over Newt's body; instead it floats above him, right where Thomas had been holding it. It continued to shine brighter until it stopped being an orb and it's like it changed its state of matter: no longer an orb, an odd fluid-like smoke was above the witch's body and it entered his body slowly. Thomas didn't even blink. He and everyone else were at the edge of their seats. After the orb or whatever it was it had changed into went inside Newt's body, color started to appear on his skin, his hair was no longer with that turned off color, lips turning their natural color. Thomas heard a heartbeat and soon Newt sucked in some air before his eyes opened, shiny brown eyes staring at the sky before they blinked in confusion at being alive again. Their friends were relieved at seeing the blond witch moving again. Newt looked around until his eyes fell on Thomas.

"Thomas,"

At hearing his name being the first thing that comes out of Newt's mouth made Thomas feel like the world was alright again. The blond witch was still lying on the ground, head resting on the rock and eyes locked on Thomas.

"You... You didn't had to... You..."

Thomas manages to smile, "Talking wasn't always one of your best qualities."

Newt smiles at that and Thomas feels like he can breathe again. The blond witch raises a hand to touch Thomas' face, resting over his bruised cheek and it's warm in difference at how it had been a couple of minutes ago. Liking the feeling, the brunet starts nuzzling the hand like a dog would do. It reassured him that Newt was here, alive and well.

At hearing someone clearing their throat, Thomas realizes where they are and he stops with the nuzzling. If Newt's face is as red as his is then nobody says anything. He then helps the blond witch to stand up on his feet, holding him with a hand on his waist. The gang approaches them and Newt lets them hug him, saying that they are relieved he is okay and all that. They were together again. All of them and Thomas couldn't be any happier. Everything was back to normal.

Minho turned to his best friend as the brunet smiled, "So how do we get back?"

Thomas's smile falls. _Shit._

"You didn't thought about it until now, am I right?"

Thomas groans. He had totally forgotten about that.

Minho nods, knowing that the groan from his friend had been answer enough. "Okay, one thing at a time. We have Newt, which whom we wouldn't have been able to leave without," he eyes Thomas, who can feel his face getting hot, "the bad guy is gone, the hot lady is back at the throne and she's not going to kill us for dethroning her, and we are all alive." he claps his hands, "Now, why don't we try to find a way out of here if you don't mind?"

"Guys," Teresa called but they didn't pay attention.

"Didn't Eris say she would owe you if you helped her with Elrik? Can't you ask for that favor and have her return us to Beacon Hills?" asked Aris.

Thomas cringed, "Yeah, but I kind of... used that one already."

Aris facepalms.

"Um, guys?"

"Okay, nobody panic." Minho said, joining both hands, "We're just gonna have to learn to live in here. Now, I think that that hot chick was checking me out-

"She was making sure you didn't stole anything." Gally said.

"Oh yeah, hit me when I'm down, would ya?"

_"Guys!"_

They all turn to Teresa, who turns her head to them and her eyes fall on the object in her hand.

"The lantern is shinning." and indeed, the seeker's lantern started shinning bright.

Newt frowns, "What does it mean?"

"Maybe you should let go of it, T." Minho says.

The lantern starts shaking, so Teresa lets go of it and instead of falling onto the ground, it stays suspended on the air. They all stare at it as the lantern shines brighter and doesn't stop shaking, and then it disappears. The gang stays on their places, not knowing what happened and wondering what had been that. Suddenly, in the same place where the lantern had been seconds ago, a bright green light appears and soon there's something in front of them, sucking the air around them.

"It's a portal!" yells Aris.

Thomas turns to him with wide eyes, "What?!"

"The lantern! Maybe a function of it it's to open portals!"

"Is it a portal to Beacon Hills?"

"Only if you think it is! You have to think where you want to go and it will take you there."

Thomas turns to the rest of the gang, "To Beacon Hills?"

Minho shrugs, "After this, I wouldn't mind going to Hawaii, bro."

They all laugh at that. Minho nods at his best friend, telling him that they all were ready. Thomas looks at the rest and they nod too, assuring him they're ready and that they trust him. Thomas feels someone grabbing his right hand and turns to see Newt smiling at him and giving him a nod. He nods back. Everyone does the same and hold hands. Minho grabs his best friends' hand, and on the other side Teresa grabs his. On Newt's side, Gally grabs his free hand and his is held by Aris. Taking a big gulp of air they all jump inside the portal and are sucked out of the Underworld, the portal closing right behind them.

 

* * *

 

Thomas had his eyes closed while they were crossing portals and as soon as his feet touch the ground he feels the change in the air; the change around them. He doesn't want to open his eyes and realize that they aren't back, but a comforting squeeze in his hand makes him open them, turning to where Newt was and finding him looking at him with a soft smile. He looks around as they let go of their hands, and the others are too looking around. It was a cemetery; like where the entrance to the Underworld had been.

"Are we back?" Minho asks.

Thomas turns around and sees the back of the big statue of the angel of death behind them. "It seems so."

"How much time do you think passed?"

"Dunno."

Aris makes a swirl of his wrist and he appears his phone on his hand. He must have left it on the house. The lighter brunet checks his phone and his eyes widen for a moment.

"We were gone for almost a year."

Thomas' -as well as everyone else's- eyes widen, _"WHAT?!"_

Aris snorts, "Kidding! We were just gone for 4 hours." the others sigh in relief. He finds Gally glaring at him, "What?"

"If I still had the receipt, I'd return you."

"Jerk."

Thomas smiled at that. At least nothing changed. As Minho and Teresa were scoffing at the lighter brunet for his joke, Thomas noticed that although they had let go of each other's hands, Newt's hand was still tangled in his. Well, some things did change.

 

* * *

 

At the end Thomas had to tell Vince about their trip to the Underworld. He hadn't been happy about it and he together with Mary spent two hours reproaching him about how dangerous it had been and that he shouldn't have done that -although it had been to rescue Teresa. Obviously the others didn't told their parents about it. How would Minho and Teresa explain it to their parents? Newt said he didn't want to worry his mom, so he didn't told her. Thomas was just glad they were back safe and sound.

At the sheriff's station, Vince was over his office looking through some new case of home trespassing when Alec entered his office and put down a box before nodding at him and exiting his office to go back at work. Vince took the lid off the box and took out the files -the flesh eater files- inside tagged as

**'HOMICIDE CASE FILE: OPEN CASE.'**

 

* * *

 

At the mansion, Aris and Newt are walking towards a specific room the lighter brunet was leading him to. He had asked Newt to come, and that he was going to show him something. Newt didn't ask what was it. Once they reached a big closed door, Aris turns to the blond as he opens the door, and inside are several bookshelves filled -literally filled- with books; one big wooden table with a crystal ball, a mirror and colorful jars. It was like the library scene from The Beauty & the Beast; the blond witch was marveled. There were other things, but Newt didn't had the time to admire them because he found himself asking,

"What is all this?" as he approaches the bookshelves.

"It's where I keep all my magic stuff. Books, ingredients, etc. I was thinking... You told me that your mom was teaching you basic magic, right? Well, she might be busy with her work and she might not want to teach you a little more up than your level; so while she teaches you at home whenever she can... I know that I'm not the best choice, just ask Gally but... Maybe I can teach you."

Newt looks at him with wide eyes for a moment before he asks, "Teach me? Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't be proposing if I weren't sure. Just say 'yes' or 'no'."

Newt chuckled, shaking his head before looking up again and smiling, "I would like that."

 

* * *

 

Minho and Teresa were at the football field over the school while no one was there. The Asian male was over the track, stretching his arms while Teresa was sitting on the bleachers, a chronometer on hand and a book on her lap.

"You've been training like crazy these last days." Teresa said.

"I really need to get back into shape. I don't want some creepy creature coming after me and catch me just because I don't have fangs and glowing eyes or am a flying, spell-casting, making-shit-disappear witch." Teresa laughs, "You and me both need to be able to stand for ourselves without making our friends worry about us."

"And running 20 laps will make that happen?"

Minho shrugs, "It's a start. Now, I'm gonna run to that second mark I did earlier, where it's the trashcan, okay?"

"Just don't die." she says as he stands behind the line.

"No promises."

Teresa rolls her eyes and holds the chronometer high, "Okay, ready... Set... _Go!_ "

Minho started running as soon as she yelled 'go!'. Teresa just chuckled and smiled as she saw him running and yelling at the same time. He was right. While their friends had incredible abilities, they both needed to be able to do something to help and not be a burden to them. Still looking at Minho run, she clutched the book **'First Aid manual'** that was over her lap tighter. Even the tiniest of helps is useful.

 

* * *

 

At a brand new day of school, Thomas entered the school through the doors and felt something different. But... different good. He looked around the halls and saw many students walking and talking, but even with many people there, he could spot his friends: Gally and Teresa were coming down from the stairs, the tall blond saying something and the raven girl smiling and nodding before she too spoke. Over the lockers, Aris was leaning against a locker while talking to Newt, who had a book tucked under his arm and was listening to the lighter brunet witch carefully. Thomas stared at him for several seconds. As if having sensed him, Newt turned to look at him -while Aris continued talking- and a smile appeared over his lips. Thomas returned the smile and was so happy to see that smile again. He saw as Gally and Teresa went to where they were and started talking to them. The scent of freshly mown grass and a rainy day filled his nose and soon Minho was beside him with one hand over his shoulder and the other patting his chest. They looked at each other and then made their way towards their friends, who greeted them and then they all went to the class they shared.

Yeah, maybe everything was going to be okay.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next season will be out on next friday, so you just wait!


End file.
